Secrets, Lies and Betrayals
by Kaitie-Bear
Summary: Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. MA (COMPLETED!)
1. Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, may contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

Chapter 1: Secrets, lies and betrayals

It was 3 o'clock in the morning and Seattle was bathed in darkness. A single light penetrated the darkness in a penthouse apartment, which loomed high above the city. Awkward shadows were cast in all directions around the room including onto the sole occupant, who stood motionless facing the windows.  Logan Cale gazed down at the deserted city streets below, analyzing his biggest fear and how it affected his life. It was something that he was deeply ashamed of and the one thing that he never shared with anyone and never intended to. 

He was used to the late nights that his heavy workload and countless hours of sitting in front of the computer trying to save the world demanded. He was even used to the subsequent loneliness the hours, his work and his life provided. However, he wasn't used to the darkness. He, Logan Cale, the great Eyes Only was afraid of the dark. It just sounded stupid and Logan knew it. He wasn't afraid of the dark due to the lack of light for that could be easily solved by the simple flick of a switch. Instead it was rather what the darkness represented. 

Not knowing what the darkness held was a difficult concept for Logan to grasp, partly due to his inquisitive nature that made him such a good journalist and Eyes Only so successful, and also some male ego thrown into the mix. It drove him insane that he didn't know what the darkness held and he longed to unravel the secrets that it hides so well. Simply not knowing stirred up a completely different set of feelings within him, ones that he could never conquer or shake no matter how hard he tired. These feelings and the fact that he couldn't overcome them unnerved Logan and he became not only all the more afraid of the dark but also afraid over the unspoken power it had over him. He was truly scared and that bothered him. 

Keeping the odd hours that he did, due to his work and general way of life, Logan had to confront his fear head on. He accomplished that by always leaving a light on in his apartment at night, whether he was working or not. Yet the simple act made him feel only slightly better. In the early hours, when the nights felt not only dark but also cold, it was the soft humming glow of his computer screen that comforted him the most. Tonight, on the other hand, was an exception. Logan rarely took a break at all, let alone have his beloved computer turned off, especially not in the middle of the night and seemingly only to enjoy the view the huge expanse of glass enabled him to see. Nevertheless such was the case because tonight was different.  Tonight was going to change his life instantly. Tonight he had the cure… well almost. 

_* Flashback *_

_"So, have you gotten hold of what I need?" Logan asked anxiously down the receiver._

_"That depends on whether you've got what I need, " replied a squeaky male voice from the other end. _

_"I assume your referring to the 20 grand, and in that case, yeah, I've got it" Logan replied coolly, despite the fact his stomach was turning tricks. _

_"Then by all means we have a deal"_

_"Fantastic," Logan said happily letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in, "so how should we go about swapping?" he queried_

_"Well, it would be very risky for me to leave the complex, is there anyway you could come here instead?" replied squeaky_

_"Yeah," Logan said, the wheels in his mind already turning, "I'll send someone over" he said then replaced the receiver back into its cradle. _

_* End Flashback *_

It had been several hours since the phone conversation had been and gone and Logan had since pondered his next move and put it into action. The majority of the few hours since putting his plan into action consisted of Logan waiting for his "next move" to appear and he was starting to get anxious and bored. Despite his workload and fear of the dark, he was far too restless to even have his computer on, let alone work. Instead, he had remained in front of the windows admiring the view and permitted his mind to relax and de-stress for a few hours. It felt as if a great deal of weight and responsibility that rested squarely on his shoulders were removed. Logan was enjoying the newfound freedom, even though he knew it couldn't and wouldn't last. Instead he allowed his mind to wander and quickly found him self conjuring up all sorts of images of himself and Max in various states of undress and positions. The words 'dirty old man' flashed into Logan's mind, but he quickly dismissed them, deciding to concentrate once more on the view. 

When Alec entered Logan's apartment in the early hours of the morning, he was surprised to find him staring out the window instead of being asleep or staring at his computer screen. Alec leant casually against the doorframe and took the opportunity to simply look at Logan, maybe he could figure out what Max saw in him. It was obvious Logan was lost deep in thought and his face was portraying a look that seemed peaceful and yet troubled at the same time. This slightly puzzled Alec and he wondered what could be so engrossing, especially at this time of night. 

Alec shrugged himself off of his resting place against the wooden frame and silently moved across the room to join Logan in examining the scene below. After a few minutes of waiting for him to say something and receiving only silence Alec was slightly displeased. Patience wasn't one of the qualities Manticore had encoded into his DNA and it appeared as if Logan still hadn't noticed his arrival at all. Alec was starting to get pissed off, after all it was Logan who had called him and told him to get right over. ****

Alec was staring intently at Logan trying to figure out why he wasn't moving or speaking. 'He's acting even weirder than normal' Alec thought to himself as he too looked again at the view, this time with an accusing glance, as if trying to ascertain some clue as to what Logan was so hypnotized by. Alec sighed, folded his arms against his chest and turned back once more to face Logan. "You fallen in love with the window or something?" he asked casually.

Logan was startled to say the least and jumped high off the ground. Once he had returned and his heart rate had slowed, he was able to comprehend that not only was Alec in his apartment but also standing right next to him and judging by the slightly annoyed look on his face, had been for some time now. 

"Jesus Alec" Logan hissed out, "You scared the shit outta me!" 

The annoyed look on Alec's face seemed to increase at the harshness of Logan's words.

"Well you should've been expecting me since YOU called ME and told me come right over" Alec replied in an equally harsh tone of voice.

"Yeah…um…right" Logan said knowing that the angry X-5 in front of him was right, 

"You just caught me off guard that's all" Logan said, trying to save some face in front of the younger man.

Alec was annoyed and was getting impatient as well and that was never a good combo.

"So," he snapped, "what was so urgent that you had to disturb me at 5 in the morning?" Alec said, glancing at his watch to make sure he had read it correctly.

Logan hadn't anticipated the hostility of Alec and he was beginning to think his brilliant plan wasn't so brilliant after all. 'Impossible' Logan thought to himself, 'my plans are always brilliant'. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves.

"I need you to go on a mission for me," he said, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible

Alec simply raised and eyebrow in response and after a few seconds he repeated, 

"You want me to go on a mission for you?"

Logan, not trusting his voice, simply nodded. 

"Why?" Alec asked plainly

"Because it's an important mission and I need someone I can trust" Logan said, although his mind didn't quite believe he was putting trust and Alec in the same sentence without being preceded by the word can't.

Alec let out a loud laugh, "Sure Logan" he said shaking his head ever so slightly

"Now here comes the most obvious question… Why don't you just ask Max?"

"I did, she's busy and she told me to ask you" Logan lied

"Oh so that's the real reason, not the whole 'I trust you Alec' spiel" Alec said mimicking Logan's voice when he said I trust you Alec part of the sentence. Logan was not amused and he let out a frustrated sigh

"Will you do it or not?" he asked in an annoyed tone

"Sure, Max has cleared it so it must be okay" Alec said rationally

Logan said nothing, instead turning his head away from Alec so he couldn't read the lie that was held there. 

"Well then," Logan said, gesturing over his shoulder for Alec to follow him into the accompanying room, "Let's get to work"

Alec and Logan went to the table in the center of the room and began to discuss the details of the mission. Logan had, previously in the night, retrieved the plans of the complex, along with the security particulars and any other information he thought Alec would need to know. Alec took short work of memorizing the layout of the complex and the guard positions and patterns.  

"So why am I doing this mission? What's so important?" Alec asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

Logan ignored the question, "that reminds me," he said, leaving the room to retrieve the briefcase full of money, "you'll need this as well". 

Logan handed the briefcase to Alec who eyes it suspiciously. He popped open the lid and saw the neat rows of money and his brain quickly calculated that the briefcase contained 20 grand.

Alec let out a low whistle, "20 grand," he said, "this mission must really be important".

"It is" Logan said, and then quickly added, "for Max" 

That was enough incentive for Alec who slapped Logan on the back and said,

"Don't worry Logan, you can count on me"

The only response Alec received was a scowl as the older man folded his arms across his chest and started at Alec over the rims of his glasses. Alec let out another loud laugh at Logan's antics and left the apartment. 

Once Alec had left Logan rubbed his hands in delight. He would finally get the cure and surprise Max and they could finally be together. He thought is was poetic justice that the one who brought the virus and had stuffed up any previous chance to cure the virus would also be the one ending the virus for good. Logan let out a short laugh that sounded much the same as a weasel's and decided to call it a night, after all it was now 7.30 in the morning. 

TBC

A/N: Hope you liked it!


	2. Danger

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, may contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

Chapter 2: Danger

Alec decided to head out to the complex around dusk. In the meantime, he had gone about his day just like any other. He went to Jam Pony and managed to only deliver 3 packages all day! In the quieter moments during the day, Alec took the time to go over the layout, routines and his plan in his head. He didn't want anything to go wrong on this mission. After all, it was for Max and she had recommended him as the man for the job and to Logan no less. That sure meant a lot to Alec and he was determined not to let her down. Which was, unbeknownst to Max, the main mission in his knew found life, provided by and revolving around her. 

Max was tired and irritated and it was showing. Her last drop off contained a small child who insisted on throwing every toy he ever owned at her while she waited patiently at the door for the all-important signature. The final straw was when a tow truck smacked her in the head causing a small bruise to form instantly. All Max did was gently return the toy to the child. She hadn't meant to make him cry… honest. Besides, it didn't hit him as hard as it had hit her so what was he complaining about? He wasn't the one that had a bruise on his head. Her headache had started sometime between the tow truck hitting her head and the mother of the now screaming child yelling something about calling her boss and pressing charges. Max sighed as she entered Jam Pony and wheeled her bike over to the row of locker's that contained hers. She rested her bike against them and then gratefully sank down onto the bench provided. A shadow with a soft, yet concerned, face appeared above her. 

"You all right Max?" the shadow asked. 

Max raised her head to look at the shadow commonly known as Alec

"Just peachy" she replied as she rubbed the back of her neck, trying to relieve some of the tension that was always there. 

When Max had looked up at him, Alec noticed the bruise on her forehead. 'X-5's don't bruise very easily' Alec thought to himself and he should know since Max was constantly hitting him hard enough to cause bruises. 

"What happened to your head?" he asked in a gentle and caring tone.

"Tow truck" Max answered flatly not bothering to elaborate or say it was only the toy of some demon child 

"So what are you doing tonight?" Max asked Alec as she rose, went over to her locker and began to rummage through it.

"You know what I'm doing tonight Max," Alec said with a puzzled look on his face and then proceeded to head over to Normal's office.

'I do?' thought Max with an equally puzzled look on her face as she abandoned the search in her locker and watched Alec walk away. The way Alec had Normal wrapped tightly around his little finger never ceased to amaze and annoy Max. She witnessed Alec not only managing to convince Normal into letting him go home early, but also convincing Normal that it was his idea and a very good one at that. So good, in fact, that is should be repeated…often. 

Max couldn't seem to help the small knot in the pit of her stomach from forming the instant Alec had mentioned, or rather not mentioned, his plans for the evening. What ever Alec was doing tonight, she had a very bad feeling about it. She caught sight of him heading towards the exit and called out his name in a rather loud voice causing him to spin round and seek her out through the throng of people that meandered through out Jam Pony. He said nothing and instead gave her a questioning look. 

"Be careful," she yelled

Alec let out a short laugh before yelling back "Yes, Logan" and with that he gave a short wave over his shoulder as he, once again, headed towards the door and eventually disappeared from her view. 

Alec quickly mounted his motorcycle and returned to his apartment to pick of the few supplies that he needed and, of course, the 20 grand. He then continued onto the complex, which was located 40 miles past the outskirts of town. Alec sped through the countryside enjoying the scenery and freedom as much as was possible at that moment in time. He never lost sight of his goal but he did allow himself to relax somewhat on the pleasant, 2-hour drive it took to get to within three miles of the complex.  Alec had decided it would be best to leave his bike a safe distance away, making it less likely to be discovered and removed and also because it would draw less attention during his getaway. Not that he was planning on drawing any attention on his getaway. After all, this was to be an easy mission, or so he thought from his initial reviews of the layout and his plan. 

Alec hide his bike behind a thick patch of trees and shrubs and quickly made his way silently across the countryside and to his destination. By now night had fallen providing the perfect cover for him. Whilst retrieving the supplies from his apartment earlier in the night, Alec had removed the money from the briefcase and deposited it in his backpack. He had concluded that the money would be much easier to carry in the small bag, which was now slung firmly around his body, than in the bulky briefcase Logan had provided. Alec was sure that the person who was receiving the 20 grand would be much more concerned about the money itself, rather than what it came in and at least then, he would be able to return the briefcase back to Logan. Alec was pleased with his decision. 

It was quite a dark night as the moon was being well hidden among the vast number of clouds that blanketed the sky. This didn't bother Alec in the least as his eyes had quickly adjusted to his surroundings and he was now crouching in the cover of some trees and bushes and was surveying the perimeter of the complex. The complex consisted of 3 buildings, all of which were 3 stories high. The contact was supposed to be in an office at the end of the corridor on the second level of the southern building. Alec had devised quite a simple plan, but one he felt was definitely adequate to complete the mission successfully. Alec half crouched/half sat in his position near the perimeter fence, which was situated slightly between the southern and eastern buildings. He continued to observe his surroundings until he felt it was exactly the right time to proceed. 

Just as the recon had predicted there was only 2 guards at the south entrance and another 4 covering the east. Although the northern building was out of view, Alec knew that there were a further 3 guards covering it. He had already decided that the south was the best option for point of entry and the placing of the guards had made his decision all the sweeter. Glancing at his watch, Alec noted that the time was now 10:15pm and there was due to be a roster change at 10.30. The plan was to be in an out whilst the guard change occurred making sure neither group of guards knew what had hit them. In the event that his presence was detected, however, Alec was going to capitalise on the element of panic and fear that would no doubt consume the guards and make their collective efforts to regroup and find the culprit just that extra bit slower and thus enabling him that extra precious amount of time needed to escape without being caught or identified. 

After checking his surrounding one last time, Alec blurred to the perimeter fence and quickly cleared it. He continued to blur until he was flat against the nearest wall, where he then blended expertly into the shadows. The 2 guards that were covering the entrance that he planned to use hadn't been alerted to his presence and were wandering around looking rather bored. Alec noticed the small furry animal before the two guards did and had already planned to use it as some sort of distraction in order to sneak his way inside. 

"Hey Charlie," he heard the larger of the 2 guards yell

"Yeah?" Charlie yelled back. Obviously maintaining strict silence so as to ascertain any sign of an intruder quickly and efficiently hadn't been drilled into these guards.

 "Come look at this"

'Amateurs' Alec thought to himself

Charlie obeyed his fellow guard and came wandering over to see what had attracted the other guards' attention. 

"What's that?" the large guard asked, pointing to the squirrel that was now harmlessly ferreting around on the ground. 'Dumb amateurs' Alec thought, correcting his first assessment.

"I think it's a squirrel," remarked Charlie. Alec almost laughed out loud. 'Seriously dumb amateurs'

Alec was rather amused that 2 guards that were supposed to be on duty were distracted by the likes of a squirrel. But he wasn't complaining and took the opportunity the squirrel had created and snuck into the door behind the unsuspecting and otherwise occupied guards. Once inside he crouched in the corner and surveyed his surroundings, his eyes adjusting quickly, in much the same way as they had whilst occupying his previous surroundings. Charlie and the other guard had obviously not been alerted to his presence yet again as they were continuing to try to identify the animal that had invaded their watch. Quickly getting his bearing and bringing the layout of the southern building to the fore front of his mind, Alec swiftly made his way to the stair case that he knew to be straight down the hall, then the first right, second left and finally the 4th door on the left. Alec opened the door carefully so as to not make an excessive noise and silently made his way up the stairs to the second level. 

He crouched at the closed door of the second level stairwell and opened it ever so slowly until it was slightly ajar. Alec then stuck a small mirror, similar to the one dentists use to examine the inside of a patients mouth, out into the corridor to survey the hallway. When he saw it was all clear, he stood, opened the door enough for him to slip out and continued his silent movements towards the end of the hall. 

Alec noiselessly entered the office he was instructed the contact would be in and took in his view. The room held only a few random items of furniture and contained no windows. There was a large metal door, with an observation slot in the middle of it, at the far end of the room. The door was open. Alec simply shrugged and assumed his contact would be in the back room. He made his way over and stepped inside, spying a short man with glasses sitting behind a round table engrossed in the paperwork that lay scattered before him. Alec cleared his throat in order to make his presence known startling the short man and causing him to jump. The short man eyed Alec warily and backed away from the desk in obvious fear. 

"Who… who are you?" he managed to stammer out.

Alec remembered a piece of trivial information that Logan had disclosed during a conversation while they went over the details of the mission earlier in the night. 'His voice doesn't sound all the squeaky to me?' Alec thought to himself. He was now very suspicious. For a contact that was expecting a 20 grand deal to go down tonight, this guy sure was scared. It was more than just the fear of being caught by his superiors, Alec could sense that and it was beginning to unnerve him. 

"Eyes only sent me" Alec replied, as the man continued to back away until his small form came in contact with the wall and he rested flat against it. 

"Oh?" the short man said, raising his eyebrows in obvious surprise. 

It was now clearly obvious to Alec that the short man had no idea what was going on or about any deal that was supposed to go down tonight on behalf of Eyes only. The whole situation was suddenly reeking of "set-up" and Alec wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Just as the instinct to flee hit Alec he heard the large metal door slam shut behind him and lock firmly in place, with what sounded like a large metal bolt sliding into place. Despite this, Alec immediately went to the door and tried to open it. The observation slot slid open and only the cold, hard eyes of White were visible. Alec cursed inwardly. His simply mission complete with seriously dumb guards and squirrels had suddenly gone from easy to bad to catastrophic within the blink of an eye.

"Try all you like 494" white said lazily as he watched Alec struggle with the door, "This door is reinforced steel, even your skills, if you can call them that, are no match for it."

Alec took a step back and underwent a mental inventory of the room and anything that would aid his escape. The short man was now cowering in the corner of the room upon hearing white's voice. Alec sighed, as it was obvious that the short man would be now help to him during an escape. The rest of the room was just as useless with the table the short man was sitting at earlier the only other item in the room. The sound of a large bolt being pulled back echoed through out the room and the metal door swung open allowing 6 men to file into the room, all equipped with tasers and guns. Alec immediately unclipped the bag from around his chest and threw it to one side then adopted his fight stance. Although the odds were stacked against him and he was severely out numbered, Alec wasn't prepared to go down without a fight. 

The men formed a rough semi-circle around Alec. They all stood there, motionless for a few seconds just eyeing off Alec and waiting to see who would make the first move. In the end it was Alec who initiated the fight, as this was one fight he wasn't going to back down from, no matter how out numbered he was. The room erupted into a flurry of kicks, punches and lunges, with bodies ducking and weaving every which way. It appeared as thought the 6 familiars were quite content to fight Alec before subduing him with their weapons and indeed that is exactly what happened. A familiar lunged towards Alec and he used the larger man's momentum to flip himself over and kick several more of the men in the process, sending them crashing down to the ground. Three of the familiars lay strewn on the floor and the other 3 simply stepped over them and came at Alec. They simultaneously threw combination after combination of punches and kicks and Alec did as best he could to subdue their attack and fight back as best he could, considering the situation. As Alec was busy fighting them off, the three familiars who had previously been disposed of on the floor came round and closed in on Alec from behind. He was now completely encircled. This was not good. 'Be careful'…the concerned words that Max had offered echoed through Alec's mind. Again all the men simply stalked round each other, eyeing Alec off, trying to ascertain just how much he could take. Then, without warning, all 6 of the familiars lunged toward Alec, tasers drawn. The combined force of the 6 tasers was far too much for Alec as they battered his body in various places. Alec collapsed onto the ground and continued to spasm long after the tasers had ceased and he had blacked out. 

It was at this moment that White entered the room for the first time. He came into the centre of the group of men who were all staring at Alec, tasers still at the ready. White simply nodded to the men, as if in appreciation of a job well done and then kicked Alec once in the stomach and once in the head. There was no reaction whatsoever from Alec, causing White to smirk.

"Take him away" White ordered before leaving the room. 2 of the men grabbed Alec's unconscious form and dragged it from the room closely followed by the other 4 familiars. The door slammed shut once more and the room fell eerily silent apart from the occasional sob of a short man with glasses who was huddled in the corner of the room. He had witnessed the entire fight and was more scared and confused than ever before, if that was even possible. The short man stood unsteadily and surveyed the room, just to make sure everyone else was really gone. His eyes fell upon a black bag, long forgotten, which was lying slightly underneath the table where he worked. The short man eyed the bag suspiciously, unsure of whether it would bite or not, until he finally picked it up and placed it in a drawer in his desk. He then sat down and continued working on the papers and trying to forget about what had just happened.  Although the short man was scared beyond belief about what he had just witnessed, he knew that he would be the one on the receiving end of a similar attack if he didn't get this work finished. Despite knowing full well what would happen to him, the short man couldn't help his mind wandering to the young man who had taken on the 6 larger men and seemed to be holding his own for the majority of the battle until they had used their tasers. The short man couldn't help but wonder who the young man was and what kind of pain he was, undoubtedly, enduring right this very minute. He shuddered at the thought and pushed them to the back of his mind, determined to finish his work so he didn't end up in a similar fate. 

A/N: Let me know what you think!


	3. Pain

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, may contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

**A/N:** Just a quick note to answer a query from several of the reviewers. A betrayal from Logan does play a major part in this story, but if I revealed exactly who, it would ruin it.  You'll just have to keep reading! * grins *

Chapter 3: Pain

Pain. 

Pain was the only thing registering to Alec at that moment. It was all around him, engulfing him, invading him. He could feel it, smell it, taste it. He was living it and it was consuming his every thought, his every movement. Throughout the pain, however, there were flickers of hope, manifested in the form of flashes. In the beginning, they were unrecognisable but slowly they began to come into focus. Alec concentrated as best he could and as much as his battered mind and body would allow after the intense ordeal he had endured.  After several minutes of intense concentration, a flash of bright white light went bursting through his mind rewarding him for his efforts. But the simple breakthrough had left him exhausted and his mind went blank once again allowing the blackness to take over. 

Alec was slumped forward in his chair only being kept seated by the restraints that held him firmly in place on the cold steel chair. He had been taken to a dark room with a low central ceiling beam, immediately after collapsing. The room contained only the chair that Alec was strapped into and reeked of burnt flesh. The tasers, the familiars had used to subdue him during the attack, had burnt countless number of marks into his skin. Large blackened ovals littered Alec's body along with several other injuries obtained during the fight. Included in the injuries Alec had sustained, was an almost impressive array of cuts and bruises also accompanied by a large gash above his left eye, courtesy of the kick to the head White had contributed and several broken ribs. The blood had poured, seemingly endlessly, out of the gash above Alec's eye and followed a path along the contours of his face before dripping silently to the floor forming a vibrant red puddle. The river of blood, which was now dry, caked streaks down the length of Alec's left cheek.

Several hours passed and, on the surface, Alec's condition didn't appear to alter an inch. The battle, however, was very much raging inside his mind, as he tried desperately to overpower the pain and unconsciousness. Excruciating pain pumped through his veins like a second blood. He was feeding off it and it was slowly killing him. It was, effectively, draining all the life out of him and allowing his mind to shut down and disintegrate. Suddenly there was another burst of bright white light, this time with a combination of colours mixed into it. Alec had succeeded a small victory in the battle, but he still hadn't won the war. His subconscious was working over time to try and get him to snap out of his hypnotic state. The battle looked to be getting the best of Alec prompting his subconscious to pull out its ultimate weapon. This time the flash of bright light was clear, instead of being a mixture of bright light and colours. A clear image came into his mind. It was Max and she was smiling. The thoughts of Max were urging Alec to break out the superior hold the pain had on his mind and body and fight in order to survive. Then he would be able to see her again. It was enough for Alec and for the first time in 8 hours he opened his eyes.

The simple action of Alec regaining consciousness and opening his eyes went unnoticed by the familiar who was set to guard his cell and notify White the moment he moved at all.  Alec raised his head ever so slightly as the pain lapped against his brain like waves at a beach. The pain it took to simply raise his head was too much for Alec and he let it fall down and rest on his chest once more. It was then that he noticed the smell for the first time. The smell of his burnt flesh hung in the air and it assaulted his nose and Alec scrunched up his nose in obvious disgust. The small movement cracked the hardened mask that was coating one side of his face and sent several small flakes of blood floating to the floor. A second whiff of his flesh made its way to his nose causing Alec to instantaneously hold his breath. 

With a surge of energy, Alec tried to lift his arm without realising that they were both restrained, as were both his legs. He let out a soft whimper. The guard immediately heard it, poked his head in the room and stared at Alec. He was too engrossed in trying to retrain his eyes to focus and didn't notice the guard leave to inform White of the prisoner's progress. After several minutes, White appeared at the door and took in the sight of Alec, battered, blood-coated face and restrained. It brought a small smirk of enjoyment to his otherwise emotionless face. 

"Well, Well 494, did you enjoy your sleep?" White asked as he sauntered into the room and stood directly in front of Alec.

Alec heard his voice and looked to the direction where he believed it had originated from. He could just make out the shadowy figure of White standing in front of him. Not bothering to respond, Alec blinked several times, willing his eyes to work. Then, like a switch had been flipped, the whole world came flooding back and Alec could focus once again. He blinked several more times, just to get his bearings and then raised his head content to just stare at White. After the time it took him to simply open and focus his eyes, Alec didn't trust himself to be able to speak yet. 

"ANSWER ME 494" White bellowed, startling not only Alec but the several guards waiting outside the door as well. 

Alec summoned all his strength and quietly blurted out the words, "Not enough leg room"

White was obviously not amused and let out a short snort.

"Well, by all means, allow me to fix that for you" 

White let out a shrill whistle and the same 6 familiars who had attacked Alec earlier came filing into the room, in much they same way as they had previously done. 

"Hoist him up" He ordered to the men. Two of the familiars unstrapped the restraints from Alec's arms and legs, as the other 4 kept watch, eagerly waiting any sort of movment from Alec so they could attack him once again. The men then tied a rope firmly around his wrists. The rope was then thrown over the low ceiling beam and Alec was hoisted out of the chair until only the tips of his toes were touching the floor. The chair was quickly removed, as was Alec's shirt revealing to all the familiars some of the extent of the damage they had inflicted earlier. White placed a gag in Alec's mouth and then said with a grin, 

"This ought to shut you up for awhile"

Alec was tortured on and off for several hours. The treatment varied from simple kicks and punches, to cuts inflicted from a scalpel and more use of their tasers. The 6 familiar men took turns at battering Alec and all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. White, however, hadn't joined in the torture at any time. Alec thought this was quite odd but he was unable to decide whether it was a good or bad thing. Alec hung limply from the centre of the room, swaying gently. His eyes were closed and he had stopped making any noise at all. One of the familiar men punched Alec several more times in the stomach before turning to White, 

"He's had enough, Sir," the familiar man said. White glared at the man before punching him in the face, breaking his nose instantly.

"I'll tell you when he's had enough" 

"Yes Sir" the familiar muffled between his hands that were now covered in blood as he held his nose together. The other familiars took that as their cue to once again inflict as much pain and damage on Alec as they could. Yet still he wouldn't die or try and fight back. White was starting to get annoyed. This wasn't the 494 he knew. This was just boring. White voiced his thoughts, 

"You bore me 494" he said before reaching inside his jacket for his holstered gun. The other familiars quickly filed of out the room knowing that White meant business and it would be in your best interest to not be there when he did.  Out of his now half closed eye, Alec saw the movement, registered the threat and instinctively tired to react accordingly. However, the awkwardness of being strung from the roof and barely being able to touch the ground halted his progress. His mind quickly re-assessed the situation as White took aim and Alec let his body go loose mere seconds before the bullet struck him in his upper chest. Alec lowered his head to survey the wound. Almost at once the blood gushed out of the wound, made a trail down his chest and began saturating the top of his cargos. In stark contrast to the past 10 or so hours, Alec felt no pain and let that be known to White by raising his head and smiling at him. A flash of anger coloured White's face as he took aim a second time. This time the bullet lodged solidly into Alec's right thigh. Once again Alec paused to look at his wound as the blood flowed freely from it. Alec couldn't determine whether it was the room swaying or merely him. He then lost consciousness once again. White, who was fully satisfied with his handiwork, turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him, thus leaving Alec hanging from the middle of the room, swinging somewhat above a pool of his own blood.  

Logan paced around his apartment nervously. He glanced at his clock for what seemed like the 10th time in the last minute alone. Alec was supposed to be back 2 hours ago from the mission he had sent him on and Logan was starting to get worried. There are only so many times you can get delayed in traffic, especially when there was none. Logan had been making excuses in his head for the past 2 hours, desperately hoping the Alec would burst through the door any minute with some stupid reason for his lateness. But, alas, that never happened. Logan knew now that he was going to have to suck it up and be a man. He was going to have to tell Max.

As if reading his mind, Max walked into his apartment and stopped when she saw the look of distress dominating Logan's features. 

"Logan?" she said, a little unsure of how to approach him as her presence still hadn't been acknowledged. Logan spun round and gave her a weak smile

"Max, hi" he said in a small voice. 

"What's wrong?" an anxious Max asked. 

Logan groaned inwardly as the argument over whether to tell Max or not was weighed out in his mind. He sighed; knowing full well that he was going to have to tell her. After all, if anything bad had happened to Alec she was his best chance at getting out alive anyway. For Logan it was a lose/lose situation. He was simply trying to delay the inevitable of Max being angry with him, for lying to her and for possibly putting Alec into danger. He knew that she was always a little touchy when it came to transgenics and the rescuing of but Max's touchiness always seemed to bump up a few notches when it came to Alec. At least that's how it appeared to Logan. He could never understand why, though.

"Alec is…" he trailed off, not knowing exactly which word to use as he was still unsure of the whole situation himself. Max raised an eyebrow when Logan stopped mid-sentence. 

"Alec is what?" she asked, her tone and persona growing angrier by the second. 

"Alec is missing in action," Logan said, hoping the use of a military phrase would soften the blow somewhat given Max's upbringing. Little did he realise that Max had always hated the way Manticore had trained their soldiers to simply shut off and shut out anything and everything harmful or emotional in order to get the job done. Reporting in a military style and tone when all you really wanted to do was break down really pissed Max off. It was probably the thing that always managed to piss her off the most. That was until she had met Alec for the first time. However, it seemed as though she had found something that pissed her off even more than Alec, which she thought was never possible after meeting him cause he did manage to really piss her off. Here was Logan, an ordinary, trying to talk and essentially act, like a transgenic. She just couldn't understand why he was doing it or where he was coming from. In her opinion he had no right whatsoever to try and impersonate something and someone he knew nothing about, yet that was exactly what he was doing. 

"Don't ever speak to me like that again" Max spat out through gritted teeth. 

Logan took a step back in surprise. 'This sure isn't going well' he thought to himself. Max was already angry with him, seemingly for no apparent reason and he hadn't even told her the half of it regarding Alec yet. He tried to diffuse the situation, 

"Max, why don't we sit down?" he offered in a tone that suggested Max was some sort of child that needed to be taken care of as he gestured towards the couch. 

'Too can play at this game' Max thought to herself. If Logan wanted to act like he was some sort of super solider, then she would sure as hell treat him like one, no holds barred. 

"Report, NOW" she yelled at him, causing him to take several more steps backwards in a mixture of fear and surprise until his knees hit the front of the couch and he toppled down onto it. Max moved to stand, with hands on hips, directly in front of Logan and stared down at him, a look of pure anger on her face. He stammered a bit at the start but eventually managed to get out all the details of the mission that Alec and he had planned. He even showed Max the plans that they had gone over, which were still scattered over a table in his apartment. He did neglect to mention to Max, just as he had to Alec, exactly what was being retrieved from the complex. However, in her anger Max didn't seemed to notice and Logan breathed a sigh of relief. 

After Max had heard Logan's story and reviewed the plans she decided on a suitable plan of action. 

"I'm going to T.C to arrange some transportation, then I'm going to find Alec," she said before heading in the direction of the door. 

"Shouldn't you get some back up or something?" Logan asked feebly 

Max spun round to glare at him, amazed and surprised that he was stupid/daring enough to talk to her after what he had just divulged. Logan again shied away from her intense glare.

"It just so happens that everyone in T.C is busy tonight since I didn't realise we were going to have to go on a rescue mission." Max said, the venom dripping from her words. It was blatantly obvious that she blamed Logan for putting Alec in danger and rightly so. Logan knew this and he decided to try and make up for it. 

"At least let me come with you?" he said

Max simply stared at him, desperately trying to stop the laughter that had formed in her throat at the suggestion.

"You?" she said questioningly. Help from Logan meant sitting in a car and radioing information from his computer. That's not exactly what she needed. Logan could see by the look on her face that Max was more than sceptical, but he was willingly to try and make up for his mistake. 

"You need, transport and I have a car," he offered. 

He tired to read her face to see if he had won her over. The scepticism still remained so he tried once more.

"Besides," he added, "everyone else is busy, you said so yourself and the sooner we leave the sooner we get there and rescue Alec, right?"

Max sighed. He made some valid points but in her mind, the main one still remained. If he hadn't lied they wouldn't have to be leaving to rescue Alec at all.

"Fine" Max spat out and started towards the door again. Logan began to follow until she spun round, stopping him dead in his tracks

 "If he is hurt…" she said, shaking her finger at him for emphasis before spinning round and heading for the door once more. 

Although the sentence was left unfinished, its message spoke volumes to Logan, who found himself swallowing nervously. For the first time since he had met her, Logan was scared of Max, but he was trying to redeem himself so he took a deep breath and followed her out of his apartment. 

A/N: Hope you like it! 


	4. Your Worst Fear Realised

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, may contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

**A/N: **At the moment, I've been writing a chapter a day, however I've got all of my final assessments coming up in the next two weeks so I might be a lil slow updating. But after that I'm on hols so it will be update central! Having said that and knowing what I'm like I'll probably end up updating my story instead of doing my assignments. Lol I just can't seem to help myself! Anyway…

Chapter 4:  Your Worst Fear Realised. 

Logan struggled to even keep Max in sight as she sped away from him faster and faster on the dark deserted road outside the city. Max had seemingly forgotten that Bessie could only do so much and was nowhere near as fast as her ninja. But she had more important things on her mind, like saving Alec.

"Max" Logan screeched in her ear. Max shook her head as if trying to rid him from her brain. She didn't want to think about him at the moment, as all that did was make her even angrier than she ever thought possible. She certainly didn't want or need him invading her thoughts while she was preparing to rescue Alec. 

"Max, slow down" she heard again. She sighed in defeat. 

She just knew that bringing Logan with her on the mission to rescue Alec was a bad idea. Everyone in T.C had prior engagements so Logan was, unfortunately for Max, the only help that was available at such short notice. That might not be so bad but there was a major problem. Logan wasn't helping. They weren't even at the complex yet and already he was being a major hindrance. Max had done some rough calculations from what Logan had told her and from knowing that Alec had left early from work yesterday. She concluded that Alec had been missing for over 12 hours now. That just wasn't good. Why hadn't Logan called her sooner? But more importantly to Max was why hadn't Alec asked her to go on the mission with him? While all she felt when she thought of Logan was anger, it was a completely different set of emotions when she thought of Alec. She was disappointed that he hadn't even considered asking her to go on the mission with him. Was she really that bad? Max was really worried about him and both disappointed and angry with herself that she hadn't trusted her gut instinct, when it had told her something bad was going to happen to Alec. 

Max eased back on the throttle of her motorcycle waiting for Logan to catch up. While she waited, she took the time to go over the rough plan she had formulated in her mind so far. Logan had told Max what Alec had planned to do or at least what he told Logan he was going to do. Max had also reviewed all the information that Alec had looked at in Logan's apartment. From that she had gotten some sort of idea as to what she would do in his situation and therefore thought she had a good idea as to how Alec would handle the situation. Now all she had to do was get to the complex and rescue him, preferably without Logan getting in the way every two minutes. 

Max slowed as she came closer to the complex. She planned to park the vehicles about 3 miles from the actual complex, that way they wouldn't be spotted. Max checked to see if Logan had seen her as she pulled off the side of the road. He followed her in and parked his car under the cover of some trees. Logan and Max made their way through the mass of trees and bushes in the woods in search of the complex perimeter. 

"It sure is dark tonight," Logan commented, more to himself than to Max. Max has amazed that he was trying to make idle chit chat. She glared at him, her anger still blatantly obvious.

"Don't talk unless I talk to you first" She said rather forcefully.

Logan sighed and fell into step behind Max. She sure was angry and it wasn't going to be as easy to fix as he had originally thought. Logan hadn't even entertained the idea of Alec being hurt since that would surly spell disaster for him trying to get back in Max's good book.  

They finally found the edge of the woods and were now crouching down surveying the perimeter of the complex in front of the southern building. 

"So what's the plan?" Logan asked softly as he rubbed his hand together and glanced around the woods nervously. 'Is it just me or are these woods getting darker' he thought to himself. 

"The plan," Max spat out, scolding him with a look as he had already broken the only rule she had set in place, "Is for you to stay here, near the perimeter and keep watch while I go and get Alec." 

"You want me to stay here?," he asked and then added, "alone"

Max simple gave him another poisonous look. Did he think this was some sort of romantic outing for the two of them to share?

"We'll keep in contact via the headsets" Max said before blurring across the remaining ground before the perimeter fence and jumping over it. She expertly landed on the other side and quickly made her way to the side door. Logan simply watched her go, trying not to let the thought that he was now alone in the dark in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere enter his mind. He knew that if he did let that thought be mulled over in his brain that he wouldn't be able to handle it. As it was the woods were already starting to make him nervous and edgy. He saw Max pick her moment when the guards were occupied and sneak inside the building. Logan sighed. He really was alone now and his fear increased as the seconds ticked by. 

Max made her way down the corridor. She knew that Alec was sent to locate the contact situated in the end office on the second floor so that's where she had decided to start her search. Max made her way up to the second floor and entered the end room. She saw the large metal door open at the other end and made her way over to it. She glance around the corner of the door carefully and spotted a short man with glasses hunched over a table scribbling profusely on some paper in front of him. Max slipped into the room silently and cleared her throat. The short man peered up at her through his glasses. He instantly thought of the young man who had entered his room in much the same way, some 15 or so hours ago. 

"You're here about the young man aren't you?" he asked in a concerned tone. 

Max was not surprised but still taken aback somewhat. Logan had said the contact had a squeaky voice when he had talked to him on the phone, but the man in front of her spoke with a soft and gentle voice. Something was definitely wrong. 

"Yes" Max replied after a minute or two of debating whether she should stay or go. 

"Can you tell me where he is?" she asked the short man.

He shook his head sadly. "They took him" he replied

"Who" Max managed to get out, the worry and doubt rapidly filling her mind and her heart. 

"White" the short man answered

Max felt her knees go weak and she stumbled forward, grabbing onto the desk to try and steady herself. The short man came around to the front of the desk and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. Her momentary lapse passed and she resumed her solider mode, immediately shrugging his arm off. He was not surprised. 

"Where is he now?" she asked in a serious and cold tone. The short man shrugged. 

"They usually take prisoners to the building in the north, I think." He gave her a weak smile, silently offering her his condolences for not being able to offer her more. Max spun on her heels and headed towards the door before the short man stopped her. 

"Wait" he cried, causing Max to spin round and face him once more

"He left this and they didn't take it," the short man said, whilst going over to his desk and removing Alec's bag from the drawer. He handed the bag to Max who simply stared at it for few seconds, unsure of what to do, before she came round and said

"Thanks" 

She headed to the door once again.

"Be careful," the short man offered sincerely. Max snorted as she slipped through the door. 

As she made her way back to the second floor stairwell, Max slipped Alec's bag over her head and let it rest neatly against her chest. The strap crossed her heart and she swore her heart got louder and faster that instant that it touched her heart. She bent her head slightly and could smell Alec on the bag. A single tear escaped her eye before she once again pulled herself together and focussed on the task at hand. She quickly re-assessed the situation and brought the layout of the northern building into her mind. Having quickly decided on a new plan, Max descended the staircase and made her way to the outside wall of the southern building. She faced the northern building and decided she had better radio in her new destination to Logan. 

"Logan you there?" he heard her voice crackle in his headset unexpectantly, causing him to jump. 

"Shit Max, you scared me" was the response Max got in her ear. She rolled her eyes, even though Logan couldn't see her. 

"White's got Alec" she stated simply, trying not to let her voice quaver with the emotion she felt and the implications saying those particular words referred to.

"What?" Logan said a little too loudly. Max winced, hoping that the guards hadn't heard him. It would not only be bad for him but also bad for her and she needed to rescue Alec now more than ever. 

"I didn't know White was here, Max, honest," Logan pleaded with her desperately hoping she would believe him. 

Max could feel her temperature starting to rise as she spoke with Logan. She listened to him whine about himself rather than be concerned for Alec who was in obvious danger now that White was in the equation and found that she was quite disgusted by his selfish actions. She certainly didn't have time for this. 

"We'll talk about this later" she said curtly before switching her headset down to low. At least then Logan would still be able to warn her if anything went wrong but she wouldn't have to listen to him whine quite so loud in her ear.  

Max blurred across the courtyard that separated the southern and northern buildings and made her way inside. From the plans she had reviewed, the Northern building was the only one that indicated having some sort of basement. 'That's no doubt where White would do his dirty work' Max thought as she headed for the nearest stairwell. 

Logan was shit scared beyond belief. He was sceptical enough about the prospect of having to face trained guard, but now these guards had turned into ruthless killer White and his not-so-merry men. On top his fear, he was now beginning to become slightly over paranoid. The trees were rustling slightly as a gentle wind blew through, there were several animals making various noises and there were various different noises coming from inside the complex. Every noise Logan heard and even when there was actually no noise at all was freaking him out a great deal. He couldn't sit still but knew he had to otherwise he would make a noise and alert someone to his presence. It took all the will power he had not to leave. Two guards came into view and Logan froze. 

"Hey Charlie" yelled out one of the guards

"Yeah" the other guard yelled back

'Shit' Logan thought. Had he been spotted?

"What's that over there in the trees?" Charlie yelled back

"I think it's a…"

That clinched the decision for Logan and he immediately panicked. He slowly slid backwards, trying to make as little noise as possible. He was concentrating so intently on trying to get away quietly that he didn't notice the low tree branch that hit his head and sent his headset falling to the ground in several pieces. As soon as he couldn't see the guards anymore he got up and ran not even hearing the end of the guards sentence.

"… nother damm squirrel" replied the guard. 

Logan ran as fast as he could without knowing for sure if he was even running in the right direction. But he was too scared to care. The night was too dark and there were too many things that Logan just didn't understand. This was his worst nightmare come true. He was living it and realised that it was more terrifying than he ever thought possible. When he had offered to help Max, he thought he would be going inside with her, not having to sit outside in some cold and dark woods. That he couldn't handle. But Max was already so angry and him that he didn't want to add to it by delaying or interfering with the mission because he was afraid of the dark.  He could just imagine how Max would react to that. 

Logan finally reached his beloved Bessie and hopped in his, without a single thought of Max or Alec and the danger that they were in. The tires screeched and sent bits of tree, dirt and gravel flying in the air as he floored the accelerator and skidded out of the woods and onto the road. Logan took off like a bat out of hell, desperately needing to be far away from the complex, from the woods and especially far away from the dark. He needed to go home, turn on all the lights and sit in front of his computer, to let its warm glow engulf and soothe him. 

Max made her way silently down the long corridor, letting her hands gently glide over the surface of the wall behind her and headed in what she thought would be the direction. She heard voices float down the corridor to meet her and she instantly ducked into the nearest nook, flattening her small form against the wall. The words of the guards came down the corridor loud and clear and Max listened intently.

"How's the prisoner doing?" one familiar guard asked another

"He's hanging in there" he paused slightly before adding, "Get it?" Both the men erupted into laughter. 

"Yeah, good one" the first guard managed to get out between his fits of laughter. The 2 guards then wandered down the corridor still laughing and failed to notice a very confused Max leaning against the wall. 'What was all that about?' she thought to herself, 'and since when do familiars laugh?'

 Max watched the retreating figures of the two guards and decided it was safe to continue her journey down the corridor. From the conversation she overheard from the guards, Max deduced that Alec should be close. She edged her way along the corridor until she reached a slightly open door. The smell was the first thing that hit her and she had to stop herself from gagging, in order to not make a noise. Max stood in front of the door and pushed it until it was fully opened. What she saw made her gasp. 

Alec was strung from the roof and he looked like hell. Max couldn't believe this was real and she took a step into the room, another wave of the powerful odour hitting her. She stared at Alec and could barely recognise his face. He was covered in bruises, burn marks, cuts and dried blood. Now Max understood what the guards had alluded to earlier. It was there idea of a joke but she certainly wasn't laughing. Max couldn't fully understand what was she was seeing. How could someone do this? 'And people think transgenics and the bad ones' Max thought to herself bitterly. 

Max willed herself to go further into the room as, in the back of her mind, she knew that she could be discovered at any moment. She edged her way close to Alec still not able to fully comprehend the state he was in. It was only until she got up close to him that she saw what looked like a bullet hole in his upper chest. The trail of blood had made its way down to the top of his pants. She used her finger to gently touch the wound and then trace the pattern of the blood trail down his chest. Alec didn't stir. Max then noticed the bullet hole that had ripped through his pants. She gave his figure a quick once over to check for any other bullet holes. She then pulled the chair that was sitting in the corner of the room over and positioned it in front of Alec. She stood on the chair and undid the rope that was tied around the ceiling support beam. Max then hopped off the chair and lowered Alec down onto her shoulder. As he was in no state to stand, let alone walk, she was going to have to carry him. 'At least something good came out of Alec being strung up' Max thought to herself sadly. 

Max carried Alec's unconscious body to the door of his temporary torture chamber. She popped her head out the door to check it was all clear. When she saw that it was, Max started the painstakingly slow journey of returning Alec to the safety of the woods. Because he was taller than her and she was slightly hunched over due to his weight, Alec's feet were dragging on the ground as she walked. 'So far so good' Max thought as she made it to the outside the building and across to the other side of the courtyard. She decided to take the outside path and continued to carry Alec around the perimeter of the southern building. Max spied where she had come in over the perimeter fence. She didn't think that would be a possible escape route now though, as she couldn't jump with them both and with Alec in the condition he was, she didn't want to just throw him over first. It was undoubtedly do more damage than good and Alec looked like he couldn't withstand any more damage. 

Max saw that the two guards had wandered away from their post at the back entrance to the complex. She decided that would be her best chance of escaping. It just meant that she had to walk a bit further. To be on the safe side, Max thought she should give the guards an added incentive for leaving their post and allowing her to simply walk out the back door. She picked up a large rock from the ground and hurled it in a direction opposite to the one she wished to pursue. The guards fell for it and went to check it out. Max saw that as her opportunity and made a half run/half hobble to the break in the fence. Either Max had misjudged the distance or she was going slower than she had anticipated and the guards caught sight of her. 

"Hey you" the guard yelled out as both of them ran to catch up to her 

Max tried to speed up as best she could but Alec's weight was starting to get the better of her. The guards saw that she had no intention of slowing down and started shooting at her. 'Typical' Max thought. They obviously had a shoot first, ask questions later policy in place at this particular complex. Max was now outside the perimeter of the complex and she was making her way over to where Logan was hidden in the woods. Maybe bringing Logan and his beloved Bessie along was a good idea after all. There was no way Alec would be able to balance behind Max on her motorcycle. 

"Logan? Logan you there?" she called out as quietly as the situation would allow, not wanting to alert the oncoming guards that she had backup. 'Shit, where is he?' Max thought as she got to the spot where she had left him on surveillance duty. Max then spotted the discarded headset lying on the ground in pieces. 'Shit,' she thought again, 'not him as well'. Max really didn't have time for this. The guards were still shooting at her and closing in on her position fast, especially since she had stopped trying to find Logan. She had to make a decision and fast. She then made the decision that she should have been doing a lot more often. She chose Alec over Logan. Alec was in desperate need of some serious medical attention and she had no idea where Logan was or if he was even captured. She may have just got the position that he was in wrong, although she highly doubted that. She decided to get Alec and herself to safety, and then formulate a plan to come and rescue Logan if he indeed did need rescuing. 

That was good in theory but before Max could actually initiate the plan, one of the guards bullets hit her in the shoulder blade, narrowly missing hitting Alec for a third time. Max stumbled and fell to the ground. The guards caught up to her and trained their weapons onto her, the red dots of their sights glowing on her skin. Max shrugged Alec off and he fell to the ground with a thud. She then got up to face the two guards. Max didn't have time to stand around, as backup had already been called for. She made light work of disposing of the two guards with a flurry of kicks and punches. They never knew what hit them. She re-gathered up Alec and set off on the 3-mile trek to her motorcycle. 

TBC


	5. Is he dead?

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, may contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

**A/N:** Well I did a heap of work on my assignment today so I rewarded myself with writing another chapter. Procrastinating… gotta love it! Lol

Chapter 5:  Is he dead?

Max made her way through the woods and reached her motorcycle in record time considering she had been shot and was fully supporting an unconscious Alec. Whilst running through the woods, Max had come to a difficult and heartbreaking decision. She was going to sacrifice her baby and take Alec home in Logan's car. That way he would be able to rest and she would be able to give him the transfusion he desperately needed. In her haste to leave Max had simply chucked a first aid kit onto the back seat of Logan's car but she was pretty sure it had all the equipment necessary to perform the transfusion. 

Max finally caught sight of her motorcycle but where was Logan's car? Surely the familiars hadn't found it. If they had they would have taken her motorcycle as well instead of leaving her with not only transport but also faster transport. That just didn't make sense to Max, unless… Then it hit her. Logan hadn't been captured, he had left and Max has now fuming. 'How could he?' she thought. Max had spoken to him before finding Alec, which meant that he knew White was there but he had just left Max and essentially Alec to fend for themselves. Logan didn't even know what condition Alec was in and that there was no chance he could fend for himself. Max was pissed at Logan before for his selfish actions but this took the cake. Although Max was extremely pissed off at Logan she willed herself to focus, as she now had to figure out how she was going to get Alec and her home in one piece. Max  realised they weren't  exactly in one piece as it was, so she vowed to try and do everything in her power to keep them from getting any worse. 

Max stood in front of her motorcycle simply staring at it for a few seconds, unsure exactly how this was going to work. She could tell just by the amount that was covering his body and the huge puddle she had seen on the floor below his body that Alec had lost far too much blood, even for a transgenic. He was going to need a transfusion and sooner rather than later. It would take at least an hour for Max to get back to Terminal City and that was if she broke the speed limit by about 10 times over. But Max didn't think Alec could wait that long. She needed to give him the transfusion now and fast as the familiars were rapidly closing in on her position. But now Max didn't have any equipment to do a transfusion as all the supplies had disappeared to where ever Logan and his car had decided to piss off to. 'Selfish bastard' Max muttered to herself. 

She then remembered the bag that she had strapped tightly around her. Max took off the bag and immediately felt a loss, as if a piece of her had just been lost, which puzzled her. She pushed those thought from her mind and looked inside, instantly spotting the large wads of money. There was definitely something weird about this so-called mission that Logan had sent Alec on and it had just gotten even weirder. She then saw a smaller bag that looked like a first aid kit, looking inside she found all she would need for a fairly makeshift but ultimately successful transfusion. She silently blessed Alec for being so prepared, unlike her who had come into the mission with dodgy back up and no first aid kit.  

Max heard voices and realised the familiars had gained on her more quickly than she had anticipated. She had to leave… now. She dragged Alec over to the motorcycle and positioned him on it before hopping on herself in front of him. Max put Alec's still tied wrists over her head and secured them around her waist. She leant forward so his large form melded to her smaller one and she supported all of his weight. It was slightly awkward at the moment but once Max got started and out onto the open road she was sure it would settle itself out, at least that's what she was hoping would happen. 

Max rolled up her sleave and inserted the needle into her arm. She then inserted the other needle into Alec's arm. Max knew she needed to leave but she also needed to give Alec some desperately needed blood so she had concluded that the best thing to do was to do both at the same time, to kill two birds with one stone. Max barely gave thought to what giving away her blood when she needed it to help combat her bullet wound would do to her. She was far too concerned for Alec to think about her own safety. Besides she only had one measly little wound Alec, on the other hand, had 2 bullet wounds, countless number of burns and literally hundreds of cuts and bruises. There was no debate in Max's mind as to what she had to do. 

Max checked the Alec was secure and that the blood was flowing before she gunned the engine and screamed off into the night. She left just in the nick of time as the familiars came bursting out of the woods and stood in the semi clearing that Max had occupied just seconds earlier. They saw her speed off and sent a few stray bullets flying in her direction but luckily none found their target… again.  

Max rode fiercely for what seemed like hours and was now back in the city. She rounded a corner to take the road that lead to Terminal City. She needed to get there fast as she was started to feel light-headed from all the blood she had given to Alec. That didn't stop her though and continued to both give blood and speed towards the desired destination. As Terminal City came into view Max could feel herself losing consciousness. She just hoped that she could make it to inside the gates and that someone would find her and Alec as soon as possible as now they were both in dire need of some medical attention. 

A couple of the X-6's that were on patrol duty recognised Max and signalled for the gate to be opened. They realised, however, that Max was not slowing down. She crashed right through the gate and headed into the heart of Terminal City. Max was trying to make it as close to the command centre or the infirmary as she could before she blacked out causing the bike to topple over and skid for several meters along the ground, dragging Max and Alec with it. 

Mole and Dix, along with several other transgenics heard the noise and came racing out of the command centre to see what had caused all the commotion. What they saw both amazed and shocked them. Alec and Max were tied together and were both unconscious on the ground. They were both badly injured and there was still a needle giving Alec blood connected to Max. The transgenics simply stared at them before Mole started yelling, snapping everyone else out of the trance.

"What the hell is going on?" Mole asked angrily to no one in particular as everyone was as baffled, as he was to the state of the two X-5's, "and what the hell happened to Alec?" Mole looked sadly at his friend who had definitely seen better days. Someone had called for the two medical staff, and they now appeared on the scene. They looked at Max and Alec and then looked at each other, fear evident in their eyes. It wasn't looking good for either Max or Alec and the medical team knew they had their work cut out for them. 

"Let's get them to the infirmary as quick as possible and assess the damage" Pepper, the first of the medical staff said. He looked over at Salt, the other member of the medical team and said 

"Get them both prepped for surgery"

Salt simply nodded and ran away to infirmary to make the necessary arrangements for the surgeries taking place in several minutes. 

Salt and Pepper had a difficult decision to make.  Should they work on Alec first or Max? They were the only ones qualified to handle the procedure it required to remove bullets so it was up to them and both Max and Alec had bullet wounds. Alec had lost a lot of blood but then so had Max when she gave Alec the transfusion he needed. Alec was obviously the worst of the two and he had been unconscious for who knows how long. Salt and Pepper decided that they would work on Alec while Max got a blood transfusion of her own. Then they would be able to remove the bullet in her shoulder and the new blood in her system would be able to heal her more effectively and quickly. Now all the needed to do was find a willing donor. 

Joshua appeared at the door of the surgery and Salt and Pepper simply stared at him. 

"Little fella need blood," he said as he stuck out his arm. That was all the prompting Salt and Pepper needed as they ushered the large transgenic into where Max lay in a bed and began the blood transfusion. ****

Salt and Pepper worked on Alec for several hours. They successfully removed the bullet from his upper thigh and were now working on the bullet in his leg. Joshua had given Max what they considered to be enough blood for the time being. Joshua had insisted on giving her a top up after her surgery. The cuts and bruises were already beginning to heal on Alec. It was just the burns and bullet wounds that would take some time. He still remained unconscious though and that was the main concern of Salt and Pepper. Alec was out of surgery and it was now Max's turn. They removed the bullet from her shoulder without any hassles and then returned her to her bed in the infirmary to rest and recuperate. 

Max awoke with a headache and opened her eyes. She blinked several times and tried to figure out where she was. Then it all came flooding back to her. The complex, Alec, the escape, being shot, Logan betraying them and she could feel herself getting angry once again. Glancing around the room she saw a small transgenic with bright white hair, white skin and totally white eyes. She was slightly taken aback, in much the same way as her first encounter with Joshua in the basement at Manticore but she quickly got over the initial shock. Salt walked up to Max when she realised she was awake. 

"Hi," she said, "I'm Salt, how are you feeling?"

Max thought about the question for a few second before asking in a croaky voice,

"Alec…" she wanted to say more, she wanted to ask if he was okay, she wanted to ask if he was dead, she needed to know but she just couldn't find the words. Just saying his name exhausted her. Salt could see the fear and pain in her eyes and knew what she was trying to ask. She placed a reassuring hand on her good shoulder and said, 

"Alec is doing well, the blood you gave him really helped." Max gave an audible sigh of relied. "Why don't you try and get some sleep?" Salt added happy to see that Max was concerned about Alec but knowing that she still needed her rest as well. 

Max gave Salt a weak smile before sleep took over her once more. The events of the mission played out in her mind as she slept. She was reliving it all and it was just as horrible and frightening the second time round. The image that stuck with Max the most was that of Alec hanging from the ceiling looking like he was dead. Max awoke with a start and bolted up in the bed she breathed heavily and the tears fell freely from her eyes. She glanced around the room and realised she was in the infirmary at Terminal City, she realised that she was safe and alive. But could the same be said for Alec. She needed to know, she needed to find him…now. 

Max pulled back the covers and gently started to slip out of her bed. A gentle hand clamped down on her shoulder and she looked up into the eyes of a Large transgenic. He was black from head to toe, with black hair and eyes. He was completely different to the small female transgenic Max had seen earlier, and she was unsure now whether she dreamed her or not. 

"The name's pepper" he said in a booming voice. Salt then came up and stood next to pepper giving Max a warm smile. Then it hit Max, they were both real, they were salt and pepper, one white one black, one small one large and one female one male. They were in stark contrast to one another and yet they appeared to complement each other perfectly.  The looked like the ultimate duo, as if they could take on anything. Her thoughts were interrupted. 

"Where do you think you're going?" the booming voice of Pepper asked

"Alec" was all Max could get out. Salt and Pepper moved aside and for the first time Max laid eyes on Alec who was lying in a similar bed to the one she was in. She seemed to forget that Salt and Pepper were standing right in front of her and slid out of the bed, crossing the cold floor to stand right next to Alec. His face had more colour in it then when she had last seen him. That was a major improvement as when she had last seen him he was practically dead. There was a large bandage strapped around Alec's chest and shoulder and the blood seeped through the bandage where the wound was. Max assumed there was a similar bandage wrapped around his leg. His body was still covered in bruise, cuts and burn marks but overall they were all starting to heal. 

Max stared at Alec and her tears fell, hitting him on his chest and face. Salt ushered a bewildered Pepper out the door. She knew that Max needed time alone with Alec, as this could be the last time she saw him alive. Although she and Pepper had done their best, Salt knew that Alec was still a far way from being fully recovered. She just hoped that he had enough strength to pull through this, for Max's sake, as well as his own. 

TBC


	6. Actions and Consequences

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, may contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay. I've been trying to upload this story for the last few days but ff.net just won't let me. But if you're reading this now it means that it has finally worked. * Cross fingers * so far I've finished 2/4 of my assignments. Not long now until I'm totally finished and on hols for a month. YAY! :)

Chapter 6:  Actions and Consequences

Max woke to find that she was sitting awkwardly in a chair next to Alec's bed. She was half draped across his body and suddenly realized that she was actually covering his chest wound. She could feel his heartbeat. It was steady but nowhere near as strong as it should be, especially since he was an X-5 transgenic male. Max still felt weak herself but she could only sleep for so long. The shark DNA took care of that, even when she was injured. Max reluctantly moved from resting on top of Alec's battered and yet still soft chest and sat on the edge of his bed, content to just look at him. He was looking better than he was but he was still in pretty bad shape. He was still unconscious and that annoyed Max the most. 

All she wanted was for Alec to wake up and open his eyes. She had never noticed before how much she loved Alec's eyes. They epitomized everything that he was. They were full of life, full of laughter and yet also full of so much pain and loss. However, despite everything he had endured through out his entire life, they always held that certain spark and Max longed to see it again. At least then she would know that he was all right. Just seeing him lying there, unconscious, covered in wounds broke her heart. This wasn't the Alec she knew and loved. Whoa! Where did that thought come from?

Max felt drained both physically and emotionally. Her shoulder hurt from where the bullet had pierced her skin and her mind was aching from the multitude of questions that were racing through it. She was so angry about what White had done to Alec and yet she was also really confused. It seemed as if there were a million questions in her mind that were all demanding immediate attention and answers. This was only adding to her tired state. Why did Logan send Alec on a mission? Why didn't Alec ask her to go with him? What was the mission for and what was all that money she had found in Alec's bag for? Why was the short man with glasses supposed to be the contact when he obviously wasn't the right man and why did he help her? Why was White at the complex? Was it a trap? Had Logan betrayed Alec for some sort of deal with White? But then Logan had seemed really surprised when she had told him the White had Alec and Max was sure that Logan wasn't that good a liar or actor. If that were the case then, what was the deal that Logan and White made?

Max grabbed her head and silently willed her mind and all the questions within it to knock it off, if only for a moment. She needed peace, she needed to rest and she wanted to be there for Alec if… Max immediately corrected herself, disgusted that she had even thought that, when he woke up. But despite all this, Max wanted answers first and foremost and she knew that there was only one person who was going to give them to her, whether he liked it or not. She raced out of the infirmary and out of T.C in search of some much needed explanations. 

Logan had driven faster than he ever had before in his entire existence. He was a respected, law abiding citizen, heaven forbid if he ever broke the law! But fear was a powerful motivator. It persuaded you to do things that your sensible brain would never usually entertain, such as, leaving the love of your life to take on countless number of highly trained, ruthless and dedicated killing experts who wanted you dead oh and of course breaking the speed limit. You know the usual. 

Sure Logan was scared but that was hardly a viable excuse and he knew that now. He had apparently left his rational brain in the car and the moment he had stepped out and experienced first hand just how dark and creepy the woods were, his panicked persona took a firm hold of him and his brain, thus clouding his judgments and altering his usual behavior and actions. 

How could he have left Max and a possibly injured or worse Alec to the likes of White and the familiars? Logan was ashamed and angry with himself. He was also disappointed that his computer skills hadn't been unable to detect White at the complex. Unless he had been set up? Logan liked the idea of that as it drew attention and subsequent blame away from him. He was grateful for that, even it was only a small amount of attention that got diverted. But surely White wasn't clever enough to out smart him, Logan Cale, the almighty Eyes Only?

Logan took a moment from inflating his bruised ego to think back to the events leading up to sending Alec on the fateful mission. He was simply doing some research for an Eyes Only story he was working on at the time when he was interrupted by the ringing of his private phone. It was the man with the squeaky voice who had rang him and told him about the cure. It was also the squeaky voiced man's idea to meet at the complex. Logan momentarily thanked the streak of coward in him that had stopped him from going to the meeting himself, as it surely would have meant certain torture and death for him. At the time he hadn't thought any thing of the man ringing his private phone. Logan was simply too caught up in the moment and dreaming about the cure to notice such a small detail. He was going to get the cure and finally be with Max, what did it matter who rang who and where they met? Logan's naivety and ignorance ultimately lead to his undoing, along with the of Max's and Alec's also. 

Logan decided that the man with the squeaky voice had set him up with the lure of a cure. Logan was blindsided by the cure, as he believed it would be the answer to all of his problems. He and Max could finally be able to touch again and that would mean that they would be together and everything else would magically fall into place as well. He knew now that he had been tricked and his grand plan had been destroyed. Logan was bitterly disappointed that yet another chance to find the cure had been extinguished. 

When Logan had arrived home from leaving Max, he had consoled himself with lights galore in his apartment, a bottle of pre-pulse scotch and his computer. Some time during the early hours of the morning, he had passed out in front of his computer, lying awkwardly across his keyboard. This was the way that Max had found him when she burst through the front doors several hours later. She hadn't intended on leaving Alec or seeing Logan quite so soon after the severely botched mission but the feline DNA in her mix got the better of her and curiosity, along with a good dose of anger, took over. 

Max was thoroughly disgusted that Logan was lying there sleeping, seemingly peacefully, and totally oblivious to the danger he had put Alec and herself in and the pain that Alec was now going through. Max was angry, possibly angrier than she ever had been before in her life and that was saying something since Manticore wasn't exactly full of happiness and roses. Max was so angry, in fact, that she felt like slapping Logan and watching happily as he withered in pain and confusion, as he died right in front of her. Despite being a Manticore trained killing machine, Max still wasn't that cold blooded. Instead she took some joy from kicking Logan's chair, sending it and him flying across the room until it slammed into the wall and spilled Logan onto the floor where he sprawled gracelessly.

Logan awoke groggily and pondered how he had gotten on the floor. He was startled by what sounded like someone screaming at him or was that just his head aching and protesting from the bottle of scotch?

"You selfish fucking bastard!" Max yelled, watching Logan look drowsy and confused

"Max?" Logan replied, wondering why there was three of her. 

"Don't Max me" she yelled again, "You've got some serious explaining to do"

"Explain?" Logan echoed dumbly. In his mind he had been trying to explain everything that had happened to himself but the bottle of scotch had dulled his thinking quite considerably and all the great conspiracy theories he had come up with last night now seemed either stupid and far fetched or they escaped him completely. 

Max was shaking with anger. She forced her arms to stay at her side but couldn't help her small but deadly hands curling into tight fists, her knuckles glowing white. Max was using all the self-control she could possibly muster considering the situation but with Logan being so obviously stupid and selfish, she wasn't sure it would be enough. She tried to calm herself down in an effort to get some of the questions that she desperately needed answers to out. 

"Why?" was all Max could spit out in fear of completely losing her temper. She hoped that Logan would be able to give her something, anything but seeing the state he was in, she was less than hopeful.

Logan started at her, with a blank expression plastered across his face before he clumsily got up and staggered over to the couch. Even if Max had been able to help Logan, she wouldn't have. Logan rubbed his face with his hands. There were several indentations of squares marking his face from where he had slept on the keyboard. In any other situation, Max would have found that quite amusing and she was sure that Alec would have some sort of remark. Thinking of Alec only made her angrier and also sadder. Max blamed Logan completely for the state Alec was in and she was wasn't going to hold back in the off chance that it made Logan feel uncomfortable. Perhaps he would rather experience how 'uncomfortable' White had made Alec?

"My patience is rapidly wearing thin Logan so I'm going to ask the questions and you're going to answer them, got it?"

Logan nodded his head slowly. He didn't want to increase the pain his head was going through by moving let alone answering questions but he really didn't have a choice. This was the angriest he had ever seen Max and the fact that he was the cause of it didn't go past him. 

"Do you have an idea how much damage you've caused?" Max yelled at him throwing her hands up in the air for emphasis. 

Raising her arms over her head caused her jacket to pull away from her body, revealing the bandage around her shoulder. The movement had caused the wound to slightly re-open causing a small amount of blood to seep through and stain the bandage. 

"Max, what happened to your shoulder?" Logan asked with concern evident in his voice

"What?" Max said looking confused for a second. She then realized what Logan was referring to and retorted, "Like you even care"

Logan looked shocked. "Of course I care Max, that's why I sent Alec to get the cure for us" 

What he had just revealed made Logan cringe. It had just come out in a rush. He really hadn't meant to tell Max about the cure, after all, they didn't have it and she was still mad enough as it was. He didn't need to be adding to the long list of what he had done wrong in the past 24 hours. There was already enough on that list to last him a lifetime. 

Max was seething at this new information and for a while she was rendered speechless, trying to process what Logan had just told her obviously by mistake judging by the look on his face.

"You did what?" she said slowly. 

Logan couldn't answer and Max continued. 

"You sent Alec on a mission to a complex filled with White and the familiars, with no backup, to retrieve the cure for us?" Max was stunned at Logan's stupidity and selfishness. 

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Logan said knowing that it was a lame excuse when he heard himself speak the words, he quickly added, "and I didn't know White or the familiars were even there. 

Max shot Logan down with a deadly look. 

"Don't give me that," she said with danger flashing in her eyes, willingly Logan to try and push her any further. 

"Honestly Max, I was set up" Logan wailed, desperately hoping she would believe him. 

Max was a somewhat taken aback. 

"So you didn't set Alec up?" she asked quietly but firmly

"Of course not" Logan said defiantly, immediately offended that his honor had been questioned, " how could you even say that Max?"

"Because Alec is unconscious covered in wounds and practically dead courtesy of White and the mission YOU sent him on all to retrieve the stupid cure," she screamed. 

Logan looked sheepish and worried. He hadn't realized that Alec was in that bad a condition, but then again, how could he, he hadn't even heard from him since he had left his apartment, let alone seen him. Logan pushed the thoughts that if he hadn't been such a sissy and wasn't afraid of the dark he wouldn't have had to bail and he would have been there to help rescue Alec at the complex. 

"Max, I'm sorry" he said accompanied with a reassuring look. 

"I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to" 

Logan's look changed from reassuring to confused in the blink of an eye, annoying Max even further. Had he forgotten Alec already, despite talking about him only 5 seconds earlier? This man really was selfish!

"Save it for Alec if…" Max cursed and corrected herself again, "When he wakes up"

Again Logan was confused and this time shocked as well. "Is it really that bad?" he whispered, as if talking quietly would ease the pain of the question. Immediately tears sprung to Max's eyes, "worse" she said before crumbling to the floor. She really didn't need to be having this conversation, this fight with Logan. It had only drained her even more than she already was and she needed to rest more now than ever. Max ran her hand through her hair and sighed. She looked up at Logan, who was staring down at her from the couch with concern and pleaded, 

"Just tell me what happened"

Logan could see the state she was in even if she couldn't. She was injured, weak, tired, stressed, extremely worried for Alec and she needed rest. 

"We don't need to talk about this now Max, you should rest" Logan said soothingly. 

Max was on her feet in a split second. She had fooled Logan into thinking that she was no longer angry just because she was on the floor and tired. That was a big mistake. Max was still fuming. She just didn't have the energy to stand or to yell anymore. But suddenly the urge came back to her coincidently coinciding with the exact some time that Logan had made his latest inaccurate observation. 

"Don't you tell me what I should do EVER AGAIN" Max screamed at Logan, shaking her fist at him, close enough for a fair warning but not close enough to touch and therefore kill him. Logan was taken aback by her sudden outburst. She was being completely irrational. All he had suggested was that she gets some much-needed rest. He tried to calm her down but before he could utter a single word he was cut off. 

"Don't Logan, I don't want to hear it anymore. I've been putting up with your bullshit for far too long. I thought you were a humanitarian, helping the little people but you only care about yourself."

Logan who was outraged by her last comment interrupted Max. 

"I do care about the little people, that's why I am Eyes Only and conduct Eyes Only missions to better their situations."

"That's utter crap and you know it" Max responded, "I'm the one putting my life on the line for all of the stupid Eyes Only crusades, you simply sit back and watch. Has it ever occurred to you that all the Eyes Only missions are simply a front for your own personal gain?"

"Don't be ridiculous Max" Logan spat out, hoping she wouldn't continue.  

"It's true and you know it. Every time someone crosses you or is better than you, they suddenly become a criminal and Eyes Only must bring them to justice" Max countered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She was enjoying watching Logan squirm just a little too much but that didn't stop her from continuing, 

"You've brainwashed the majority of the population of Seattle into thinking that you're some kind of god. And yeah I fell for it to but not for any longer. I'm out. I'm done. You've pushed me too far this time. We're done. I don't ever want to see you again."

Apart from his occasional interruption, Logan was gaping like a fish through out Max's tirade. He was completely stunned that his Max could talk to him and about him like that. He couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Brainwashed, bullshit, and that last part about never wanting to see him again. That cut him like a knife. Obviously she didn't know what she was saying at it was just the stress speaking. 

"But Max, I did this for us" he said with pleading in his voice and his eyes making him look even more pathetic than he already did. 

Max had a face of stone. Her Manticore solider mask was firmly in place.

"That's where you're wrong Logan," she said before adding, "There is no us" Max turned and stormed out of the apartment leaving a dumbstruck Logan in her wake. 

On the ride back to Terminal City and to Alec, Max did a lot of thinking. It was possible that what Logan had said about being set up was the truth. She was pretty sure that Logan wouldn't lie to her, even about something that big. It did add up, as he had sounded genuinely surprised when she had told him White had Alec at the complex. How could she never have seen just how selfish he was before? He was so self-absorbed that he would stop at nothing to get what he wants. Max then realized that Logan had been using her since the day they had met. Sure it was supposed to be a give and take relationship but it seems that he did all the taking and she did all the giving. He really hadn't been that helpful with finding her family and she was always being sent on Eyes Only missions to suit him. 

This new way of looking at everything certainly did clarify more than a few points for Max. But had she really meant what she said about never wanting to see him again? Her anger had gotten the better of her and she had just spat it out, but was it true? Max thought about it and concluded that not only was it indeed true, but it was the best decision she had made in a long time. She was finally starting to see Logan for what he really was and also see herself as well. Unfortunately Logan had manipulated her without her knowledge or consent into something that she didn't like. But now she was going to put a stop to that by ridding herself of Logan and his poisonous ways. Now she had the time and freedom to be with her friends and her family, her own kind without any stupid distraction or unwanted criticisms from Logan. 

Max couldn't wait to tell Alec about what had happened with Logan. All he had to do now was wake up. 


	7. Jumping to Conclusions

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, **DOES** contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay. A lot of stuff has been happening that is beyond my control. I've missed this story though, so I'm glad to get back into it. Hope everyone likes it. 

Chapter 7:  Jumping to Conclusions

Alec struggled to regain consciousness. He had started to feel, hear and sense things around him but he just couldn't seem to open his eyes. They were too heavy. He could hear the hushed voices of people but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. He then sensed someone close to him on his bed. He knew that smell. It was Max. Max was all right and she wasn't mad at him. Or at least she was waiting until he woke up before yelling at him for getting caught on the simple mission she had recommended to Logan he go on. Alec was mentally scolding himself.  Why didn't he do some more recon, or better recon? And why hadn't he gotten back up? Well the last question was simple to answer. 

The only person Alec trusted with his life was Max and she was too busy to go on the mission. Alec was ashamed that he had failed her yet again. He was interrupted by something splattering on his face and chest. It was water, salt water. It was tears, Max's tears. 'Why is she crying?' Alec thought to himself. He was thoroughly confused and needed to know what happened to make Max cry. He hated to see her cry but lying here unable to move or open his eyes, listening and feeling her cry was far, far worse for Alec. He needed to hold her, comfort her, and console her. He needed to make everything better. He needed to make her laugh. He desperately wanted to right all the bad things that were wrong in Max's life. He desperately wanted and needed to tell her that he loved her. 

But he simply couldn't do any of those things, especially tell her he loved her. It just wasn't his place. Max didn't want his affections, friendly or otherwise and she made that perfectly clear on a day-to-day basis. Alec knew he loved her but feared telling her for the rejection. If Max didn't reciprocate his feeling, and he knew she wouldn't, then Alec would simply die. Not physically but emotionally. He would cease to have a heart. All that would be left would be an empty shell. 

Alec had felt this way once before. But he knew now that Rachel was not the 'one' as he had thought that she was at the time. If she truly were then Alec would surely never be able to have feelings for Max or anyone else ever. But the fact was the Max had made him feel again, made him love again and it was more powerful than he had ever imagined or encountered with Rachel. Max made him feel alive and like his life was worth living for the first time in his long existence. He needed her approval, her kind words, and her smile. He lived off of it and grew from it making him a better person. She made him the person that he was and he had tried everyday to try and repay her for that in his own way. Alec had never been so dependent on anyone ever before. He simply couldn't live without Max.  He knew it and it scared the hell out of him.

Alec felt when Max left his bed. She left in a hurry and he could sense the fear and confusing emanating off of her. This only proceeded to confused Alec even further. What had happened? He needed to know and in order to find out he needed to wake up. Alec felt remarkably better considering what he had been through, yet he still decided to rest for a while longer before attempting to get up. 

Several hours had passed, or so Alec thought as he woke from his sleep. He was feeling better before but now he was close to feeling great, under the circumstances. Alec tried to open his eyes but they were still to heavy. He then remembered how he had fought against the unconsciousness when White was holding him captive. Max. She was the answer to all his prayers. Just thinking of her gave him the strength and incentive he needed and Alec not only opened his eyes, but sat up in his bed as well.

Salt immediately came running over to Alec upon seeing his movements. 

"How are you feeling Alec?" she asked, the concern evident in her voice and eyes. 

"Max?" Alec responded. 

Salt couldn't help but smile at the young man in front of her. After everything he had been through, being tortured endlessly and being unconscious for over 24 hours, the first thing Alec asked about was Max and not himself. It was so clear that he was in love with her. 

"She's fine" Salt said reassuringly, deciding to skip the part about her bullet wound for now. 

Alec let out an audible sigh of relief and smiled back at Salt. 

"I need to see her," Alec said, as he threw back the covers and slipped out of his bed and onto the cold hard floor. 

"But you need to rest" Salt protested, trying to usher Alec back into his bed. 

Alec was testing his leg with the bullet wound to see if he could stand on it. After several successful attempts of standing rather gingerly and not falling over, Alec concluded that his leg was good enough. 

"I need to see her," Alec repeated simply to Salt whilst shrugging his shoulders. She immediately understood. 

"Fine" Salt said throwing her hands up in the air and began to walk away muttering, "You can't help those who won't help themselves" 

Alec let out a short laugh and left the infirmary in search of Max.

*

Max drove wildly through the streets of Seattle as she raced back to Terminal City to once again be by Alec's bedside. She was getting more and more worried as each minute passed that he was still not awake and reacting. She desperately needed him to be ok. Max was racked with feelings of guilt for what had happened to Alec and the reason he had been sent on the mission in the first place, remorse for how she had treated him in the past and, most of all, worry. She was highly concerned for his well-being. Max found another feeling surfacing that she simply couldn't ignore anymore. Love. 

She was in love with Alec and had been for some time. But through her stubbornness and pride she had not let these feelings be entertained or expressed and now she feared that Alec would die without knowing how she really felt about him. Once Max had realised that she was in love with Alec she desperately needed to tell him. It made the torment of watching him lying unconscious on a bed right in front of her all the more difficult to bear. 

Max raced into the infirmary hoping to see Alec awake and sitting up in bed cracking onto the nurses, cracking jokes, just hoping to see something, anything. Bursting through the doors, Max ran smack bang into the rather large frame of an all black transgenic. She recognized him as being Pepper, the doctor who she had met briefly earlier. 

"Where's Alec?" she asked breathlessly 

"Gone," replied Pepper simply in a booming and not at all sympathetic voice. 

"Gone?" Max stuttered out already knowing what that meant but her mind was frozen in shock and was screaming for confirmation. 

"Yeah, gone," Pepper said with a quizzical look on his face, "sorry" he added as an after thought, believing that might help the transgenic in front of him comprehend the situation and leave his facility. 

Max tried to steady herself as she could feel herself falling. Alec was gone. Alec was dead. This can't be. She had just come to the conclusion that she was in love with him and was going to tell him. He can't be dead. Max stumbled over to the bed where Alec had been. She sank down into it and began to sob. She could smell him on the sheets and pillow which only caused her to cry even more. The sobs grew more frantic and violent as the full weight of the situation dawned on Max. The one she truly loved was dead and he had died trying to get the cure for her so she could be with another man. Max knew her life was pretty fucked up and complicated but that just took the cake. The thing that disturbed, worried and hurt Max the most was that Alec died never knowing that she loved him. In fact he probably thought she hated him. It was more than she could handle. 

Something had to be done. She couldn't let this go. Someone was going to pay. She could kill Logan but that would be far too easy. Then it hit her. White. He was the one who had down all the damage. She assumed he was the one who had set up Logan and she knew he was who had tortured Alec. Max decided then and there that she was going to kill White in order to get some revenge for her murdered friend and the one she loved. 

Max jumped up off the bed and ran out of the infirmary as fast as she could. There was no time to waste. She needed to do this now, for herself just as much for Alec. On the way out Max barely noticed Salt entering the infirmary. Salt, on the other hand, had taken in the sight of Max, tears streaming down her face with a determined look on her face with great interest and concern. She decided to question her colleague about it.

"Where was Max going in such a hurry?" Salt asked Pepper who was now busying himself with some faulty equipment in the corner.  

"How should I know?" he answered gruffly. 

"Well did you talk to her?" Salt asked, rapidly getting impatient with the other transgenic. 

"Yeah" was all Pepper decided to say. 

Salt stood over the crouching male with her hands on her hips and a questioning look on her face. Pepper stared up at her and couldn't quite figure out what all the fuss was about. 

"What?" He boomed, getting impatient himself. 

Salt threw her hands up in the air, "What did she want and what did you say to her?" 

"She wanted Alec and I told her he was gone" Pepper replied, once again going back to the equipment.

The wheels in Salt's mind began to turn rapidly and she knew exactly what had happened. All she needed now was confirmation. 

"Did you say it exactly like that?" 

"Yeah," pepper said, before adding, "I said sorry as well."

Salt was fast getting annoyed. 

"I suppose you let her see the empty bed as well?" she asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Pepper replied, obviously confused 

"You Idiot!" Salt yelled. 

Pepper was slightly taken aback by the nerve of the younger and smaller transgenic. He stood so that he towered over her and calmly asked, 

"Excuse me?"

"Max thinks Alec is dead" Salt replied, still yelling slightly despite the towering and intimidating figure looming over her.

"What? Why?" Pepper asked, as he became even more confused. 

"Forget it" Salt said leaving the bewildered male to figure things out for himself, as he no doubt wouldn't. "Your bedside manner sucks" she stated plainly before slipping out of the building. 

"Women" Pepper muttered under his breath as he turned his attention back to the equipment that needing fixing. 

Salt quickly made her way towards H.Q. in an attempt to find out where Max would be headed. She had to find her and explain the situation before Max did anything drastic or stupid. From what Salt had heard about Max that was highly likely. 

*

Max had to admit that it wasn't a well thought out plan at all. In fact it wasn't really a plan of any sort. But she was on a mission and she didn't care how, when, where, etc she was going to kill White. She was going to make him suffer the same amount of pain that she was in at that moment and that Alec had endured before he died.  

Just thinking about Alec made Max's heart ache. She didn't even get to see him. She didn't even get to say goodbye. The tears streamed down Max's face as she raced towards the facility where White had held Alec captive. No doubt White was coming up with a new plan to capture and kill transgenics and her in particular. 

Surely he couldn't have known that Alec was the one person that Max loved and that taking him away from her would hurt her more than she ever thought possible. Max really didn't want to think about it. What did it matter if White knew? What was done was done and now he had to suffer the consequences. 

Max had considered killing someone that White loved, as a sort of eye for an eye type of deal. But that was quickly dismissed as Max concluded that White was incapable of loving anyone and if he did then, being the cold-blooded killer that he was, he'd probably killed them himself already anyway. Besides Max was thoroughly looking forward to torturing and killing the man who had caused her so much pain over the years. Max had been pushed too far this time. Killing Alec was the final straw for her. It was time for White to pay the ultimate price with his life. 


	8. That's Crazy!

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, **DOES** contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

Chapter 8:  That's Crazy!

Salt ran towards the building that had been taken over and used as the main point of proceedings for all that goes on in Terminal City. Salt had hoped that Max would be at headquarters. She hoped that Max would simply be catching up on what she had missed while she had been away. As Salt neared the doors of Headquarters, she didn't slow down but instead picked up her pace. The anticipation, fear and adrenalin rushed through her veins. Salt burst through the doors and ran straight into Alec. Not exactly the person she was looking for but he would do. If anyone were to know the whereabouts of Max it would be Alec. 

"Hey watch it," he said lightly, the laughter in his voice giving way to any hint of anger that his words portrayed, "I'm injured you know"

Salt had no time for jokes at this stage as she had no idea where Max was or what she was up to. 

"Alec there's a problem" Salt said hurriedly.

Alec was about to make some comment but was cut off before he even had a chance to open his mouth. 

 "It's about Max," she said simply.

Instantly Alec's face dropped and all traces of jokes and laughter immediately left him. His whole body stiffened, which made him grow taller. His face had hardened considerably, apart from his eyes, which became full of worry and concern. 

"What happened?" he managed to ask. 

Salt could barely speak, "she thinks your dead," she whispered out

"What? Why?" Alec yelled causing nearly all of the occupants of H.Q to spin round and stare at the pair. Most of them had never heard Alec raise his voice before and for him to do so meant there must be something majorly wrong. 

Salt was fast getting scared and ashamed by what had happened. It was a simple mistake but the consequences of it could be devastating for Alec, for Max, for everyone. The utter panic of the situation struck her and Salt was rendered speechless. She simply couldn't answer. All she could do was stand in front of Alec shaking her head. Alec needed to get the information out of Salt and as quickly as possible. He tried to soften both his voice and his demeanor in order to do so, but considering the news he had just received, it was proving to be a rather difficult task. He knew Max but he had no idea how this would affect her. The exact relationship between Max and Alec had never really been defined so there was no telling what would happen now Max thought the relationship had been destroyed. 

"Tell me please," Alec pleaded with Salt who was now cradling her head in her hands and sobbing gently. 

"It was my fault" a loud voice came, startling both Alec and Salt. Alec turned his attention to Pepper who was now comforting a visibly shaken Salt. Pepper then proceeded to relay the conversation he had with Max in the infirmary. Alec listened intently before commenting, 

"So she thinks I'm dead?" 

Salt and Pepper simply nodded. 

"Nothing to worry about," Alec said very unconvincingly, "She'll just be off somewhere. She'll be back soon." Alec looked at all the skeptical faces surrounding him who had joined the pair after Alec had yelled to hear the incident first hand. "Right?" he added upon seeing them all.

"Alec, do you remember anything about coming back here?" Mole said interrupting the group all lost deep in thought.

Alec spun to face him, "No, not really" he answered quietly, hanging his head slightly. He then looked confused, 

"What's the big deal?" he asked

"Little fella been shot" Joshua interjected causing Alec to stare at him with wide eyes. 

"Right," Alec said, "tell me everything"

Mole thought for a moment, letting out several large puffs of cigar smoke in the process. 

"We actually don't know all that much" he said regretfully.

"How is that possible?" Alec asked getting angrier and more worried by the second. 

"Nobody knew you and Max were on a mission until you both showed up here looking like hell."

"Max wasn't with me. I went on the mission on my own." Alec said bluntly

"That may be but Max was the one who brought you back here meaning she must have rescued you single handedly." 

"Max rescued me from White on her own without any backup?" Alec asked immediately amazed and in awe of Max's actions

"Yeah, must've cause none of us knew anything about it until she turned up here with the both of you on her motorcycle."

 Alec's mind was racing as he tried to put together the events of his capture and torture and the events following it.  His mind came up a blank after his torture and he wondered just what Max had done to rescue him from a facility full of familiars and a very pissed off White. 

"Did she say anything? What did she tell you?" he asked in a rush, desperate for some more answers to the puzzle in his mind. 

"She was unconscious," Pepper, added in his direct and booming manner, "You both were."  

"How is that possible?" Alec asked for a second time, his confusion rapidly getting the better of him. 

"You and Max were tied together and she was giving you a blood transfusion for god knows how long and she passed out just as she reached here" Mole said gesturing to the Headquarters they were all standing in. 

Alec was speechless for several seconds trying to take in all he had just been told. 

"And she'd been shot as well?" he asked 

The others simply nodded. 

"What was she thinking?" Alec yelled to no one in particular, "She could've died!" 

Unbeknownst to him Alec had voiced exactly what the others had all been thinking at the time. It had occurred to some of them then that Max did indeed care for Alec, even if she didn't show it or would never admit it, especially to Alec and even herself. Why else would she risk her life for him? And on so many different occasions as well.

There was silence among the group until it was broken by a quiet voice,

"She cares about you Alec" Salt stated plainly 

Alec simply stared at her with a skeptical look on his face, which included his eyebrows being arched till they nearly touched the top of his head and mingled in with his hairline. 

"The first thing she asked about when she woke up was you" Salt said calmly before adding, "just as you asked about her"

Alec spoke without thinking, "yeah but that's because I lo…" He managed to stop himself just in time before revealing his deepest feeling to a room full of people. 

Alec shook his head and suddenly everything came into perspective. 

"Fuck" he yelled causing the other to look at him with a mixture of shock and confusion

"Max thinks White killed me," Alec stated sadly. 

The others still looked on in confusion. They weren't entirely sure what that statement meant.

"What does the mean?" Salt asked nervously.

Alec pinched the bridge of his nose, "what does Max do when someone, especially White, kills a transgenic?" he asked the group

"Revenge" Joshua barked out 

"Exactly" 

The group was again in shock. Max was going after White and by herself? That was certain suicide. But then again she had gone in to rescue Alec on her own and survived. Alec was not so easily convinced, however, as he immediately began planning a rescue mission for Max. 

"I'm not making the same mistake twice. This time we're going in armed and overflowing with backup." he stated plainly "She saved me, now it's time to save her." Alec didn't bother to ask for volunteers and none of the group bothered to complain as they were all determined to save Max as well. 

*

Max reached the facility in record time, which was probably a good thing, as she hadn't even been paying much attention to where she was going. The grief she was feeling was getting the better of her. It had already clouded her better judgments and now it was starting to affect her senses as well. Max had never cried this much before in her life, which was quite a feat considering all the pain and loss she had previously been through. But this loss cut deeper than all of those others combined. There was just something about losing the love of your life that couldn't be understood, rectified or consoled. At least that's how Max was feeling at the moment. 

In the very far reaches of her mind, Max was screaming to herself that this was a very bad idea and that she would be no doubt captured and killed. But she was far beyond caring. She needed to avenge Alec's death. White, and anyone else who stood in her way, needed to pay. And they were going to, she was going to make sure of that. In her haste, Max hadn't even brought a gun. She knew that even if she had she probably wouldn't have used it but it was still a menacing weapon and a deterrent, at least for a few minutes.  

Max decided that the best place to start looking for White would be where she found Alec. The basement used for holding and torturing prisoners. She made her way through the structures of the facility just as easily and as quickly as she had done on the night of Alec's rescue. Max made her way inside of the northern building and made her way to the basement. She edged her way along the corridor until she reached the room that Alec was in. Max pushed the door, which was slightly ajar until it swung open and revealed the entire room to her view. She had to blink back a few tears that had instantly sprung to her eyes as the painful memories of how she had found Alec hanging from the ceiling flashed through her mind. The horrible image had been replayed in her mind so many times since that night but being here again and seeing the room complete with blood stained floor was just to real for Max.  

She let out a ragged breath. One hand flew to the doorframe to support her and the other grasped at her heart, which was aching even more upon seeing the room and the image of Alec yet again. Being so caught up in the horrific moment and so overcome with emotion, Max failed to notice the person who had crept up behind her. She also failed to notice the person smacking her across the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Max fell to the ground. She tried to turn over to get a look at her attacked but whoever it was hit her again before she had the chance. 

Max slumped to the floor in an undignified heap. The attacker wasn't done yet, however, as he kicked Max swiftly in the stomach. That was followed by several more kicks and even a few punches from her attacker who she assumed now had friends. As quickly as the beating had started, it stopped. Not a moment too soon as Max was close to blacking out into unconsciousness. She was hauled to her feet and dragged into the room that had held Alec. Max was dumped roughly into a cold metal chair with a high back. Her arms, legs, torso and neck were all strapped tightly to the chair holding her in place. 'I wonder if this is what happened to Alec' Max thought to herself. That was quickly followed by another thought. 'They killed Alec which means they're going to kill me'. 

Under normal circumstances Max would've let a few tears escape. But these were hardly normal circumstances. That was coupled with the fact that Max didn't have any tears left. She had cried them all for Alec. Plus the fact that one of her eyes was beginning to swell shut from the battering she had endured in the hallway. Max had the feeling the beating she took in the hallway was simply a warm up to what was coming next. She hadn't fought back outside, despite the fact that she could've. But the blow to her head had hurt and confused her more than usual and Max wasn't thinking straight enough to fight back. Now, however, she had no chance of fighting back even if she wanted to. She was strapped to the chair with every possible options of attack cut off. All Max could do now was wait until they, White, whoever came and killed her. 

*

Alec raced through the countryside at dangerous speeds on his motorbike in stark contrast to the leisurely pace he had undertaken on his first ride to the facility. But this time the mission was far more important. This time the mission was to save Max. 

"We're nearly there, are you with me?" Alec yelled into his headset so as to be heard over the roar of the motorbikes engine. 

Alec received several answers back in his earpiece. Mole, Dix, Joshua and Pepper were all following him in a van they had 'acquired'. Salt had insisted on coming on the mission with them but Alec had made her stay put. Salt was in no state to be fighting against White and familiars. She was far too emotionally attached to Max and it would, no doubt, get the better of her during a fight and a mission to save a possible injured or dead Max. Alec knew his comment was hypocritical as he was the most emotionally involved of all but he simply couldn't risk another life, even for Max. Besides, Pepper was already coming on the mission, which meant that Salt needed to be there in case someone else at T.C needed medical attention. Salt had reluctantly agreed. 

Pepper had agreed to come on the mission since he was strong and able to hold his own in a fight. But mainly because he could assess and treat Max if necessary at the scene and on the way back to Terminal city to increase her chances of survival. Alec wasn't taking any chances. He knew first hand what White had done to him and he also knew just how much White hated Max. God knows what he would do to her, which made Alec fear the worst. 

"Right," Alec yelled back as he neared the facility, cut his engine and hid his bike amongst a rough patch of woods.  
The others followed suit and hid the van a short way from the facility but just enough to be out of sight. They had all gone over the layout of the facility on the way and Alec had indicated where he thought he was held and, therefore, where he thought Max would be. Alec crouched down and surveyed the perimeter of the facility. He was joined by the four anomalies. He looked over to his four companions and silently gave them all a chance to back out. All four shook their heads and Alec nodded gratefully to each of them.

He knew he couldn't do this on his own, especially since he was still injured. The bullet wound in his shoulder was healing quite nicely and wouldn't hinder his ability to fight but the same couldn't be said about the wound in his leg. It was troubling him considerably and made walking and running painful and awkward. But Alec had pushed those fears and pains to the back of his mind. He was here to do a job and that job was to save Max and that was exactly what he was going to do, no matter what the cost. 

After watching the perimeter for several minutes, Alec again looked at his four companions. 

"Let's do this," he said and leapt expertly over the fence. The other four followed suit and the mission to save Max was underway. 

*

Max didn't have to wait long at all before death himself walked through the door to personally take her away. 

"Hello 452" White said in a voice that could only be described as smug.

Max would've looked away if she could but the neck restraint held her so she was staring directly at him. Despite this Max didn't answer. This surprised White. 

"What, " he asked, "no witty comeback?"

"Go to hell" Max said softly and without any passion. 

"Ahh," White sneered, "there's the 452 I know and hate."

Max snorted in disgust. White could see that Max was in no mood to talk and she was certainly in no condition to fight thanks to the chair she was restrained in so he decided to make her listen a little. 

"I set up the meeting with your beloved Eyes Only. Did you realize that?" White asked while looking amused. 

Max snorted again causing White to laugh. 

"I assumed that the weak pathetic human would send someone else to do his dirty work. I just assumed it would be you."

Max closed her eyes but wished she could close her ears. She already knew where this conversation was heading and really didn't want to hear what came next. 

"When I realised in was 494 that came, I was delighted."  

"Stop" Max yelled desperately hoping he would but knowing that he wouldn't. White was enjoying this far too much. 

"Torturing him was very entertaining, one of the perks of the job really." White said with a sadistic smile on his face before continuing,  

"He was just so easy to break"

"You bastard" Max screamed, as she lunged towards White.  It was to no avail as the restraints kicked in long before she reached the now grinning White. 

"But I must say," White, continued as if Max hadn't even moved, "killing you will be the highlight of my career."

"I don't care what you do to me. You've already taken away the one person I care about the most." Max mentally slapped herself. Why had she revealed that to White of all people? 

"You can't possibly mean 494?" White asked, somewhat amused. 

Max didn't answer but that was all the confirmation White needed. 

"He's nothing but a piece of filth," White taunted. 

"I LOVE HIM" Max screamed, using all her energy and leaving herself physically, emotionally and mentally drained. 

White looked at the woman before him. She was nothing like the 452 he had encountered and lost to on so many occasions. Love had made her weak and he was going to take full advantage of it. 

"Don't you mean loved him?" he spat out, delighting in the way Max face fell. 

Max couldn't and didn't answer. All the pain she was feeling before came flooding back to her. White looked on in disgust. She was a shell of the transgenic he knew and it annoyed him. This was supposed to be his moment in the sun, his crowning glory. But where was the fun in killing someone who was practically dead already. White scoffed. He would never allow himself to get that weak. This was just boring now, in much the same way that Alec not fighting back was boring to him before. 

"You're weak 452 and that's no fun"

Max didn't care anymore. So she had disappointed her enemy. Big deal! She had let Alec die, that was far more important. She should pay for that with her life. 

White gestured for some familiars that were waiting patiently by the door. 

"Finish her off," he ordered and the familiars nodded in delight. White stood in the doorway and took one last look at 452. She was still restrained in the chair and was being punched in the face by one of the familiars. Yet she did nothing to fight back. In the pit of his stomach White was disappointed. This was not the end for 452 that he had imagined. He left the room silently only to be sought out by another familiar. 

"Sir," the familiar said, "there are intruders on the base"

White looked pleased, perhaps this would be a fight more fitting for him. 

"Sir," the familiar said again, in order to regain White's attention, " it's 494"

White stared at him in disbelief. 494 was dead. 

"Are you sure?" he asked

"Positive sir" the familiar answered. 

Despite the fact that Max was being beaten up and punched in the head repeatedly, her enhanced hearing picked up every word of the conversation that was taking place outside. 494 was here? That meant that Alec was alive! Max felt the life return to her body and felt her heartbeat loud in her chest. What had she been thinking, about to give up just because she thought Alec was dead? That was crazy. She then realised that she was still restrained and being beaten up. She had to put a stop to that instantly. Max used all her strength to free her legs from the restraints. This momentarily stunned the two familiars who were attacking her. Max used their pause to kick them both, sending them flying across the wall. As they lay in a surprised heap on the floor, Max used the rest of her strength to free herself from the chair. It was time to fight back. 


	9. Fighting

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, **DOES** contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

**A/N:** Jg: I took your comment into consideration and re-read chapter 8. When I found myself searching for the next chapter button I realised that you were correct. What was I thinking?! Oh well at least it ties in with the name of the chapter lol. 

Chapter 9:  Fighting 

It was time to fight back and that's exactly what Max planned to do. The two familiars she had previously disposed of had regained their composure and were advancing on her again. Max hurled the large metal chair she had been strapped into not so long ago, at the one on the left of her with relative ease. It knocked him to the ground and landed heavily on top of him, instantly knocking all the wind out of him. While he was struggling to get the chair off of him, regain his breath and get up, Max attacked the other familiar. In a flurry of ducking and weaving, kicks and punches, the other familiar quickly joined his colleague on the floor of the torture room. 

Max was moving and fighting as if she had received a double dosage of super human strength and ability. She was a woman possessed. Possessed mainly by the fear that she had given up on her life and, therefore, the lives of so many others that depended on her, both transgenic and otherwise. She was ashamed beyond belief and vowed that no one would ever know what had happened in the cell and, more importantly, that it would never happen to her again. Max had regarded herself as being strong before but she realised now that simply wasn't enough. She had faulted. Now she made a silent promise to herself that she would never let that happen again, no matter what the cost. She was going to shut herself off from all that compromised her strength. In her mind however, she wasn't quite sure what that was at this exact moment in time. But under the circumstances she really didn't have a chance to think about it. She decided to concentrate on the more pressing matters at hand and deal with her weaknesses later. 

Issuing orders for the familiars on how to best deal with the intruders on the facility had momentarily distracted White. In that short amount of time, Max had dealt with the two familiars who were sent to finish her off. Now she had her sights firmly set on White. White had heard the commotion coming from the room and had dismissed it as simply being the familiars carrying out their orders while getting some enjoyment from it in the process. When the room fell silent, however, White began to get suspicious. Although 452 was now weak and had no passion to fight even she wouldn't go down that quickly. He decided to go and investigate. 

Max had counted on White coming back to the room. She hid behind the door and waited until he entered the room fully. While White was momentarily occupied by surveying the scene of the two familiars before him, Max took the opportunity to push the door until it closed. The door slammed shut and the metal echoed throughout the room and down the hall. The sudden loud noise startled White and he spun round to face his captor. A small smile spread across his face when he saw 452 standing in front of the door in a fight stance with a determined look on her face. 

"Well, well 452. You appear to have gained some of your fire back"

"Yeah I'm a real barbeque." Max retorted, gaining a short laugh from White. 

"At least there'll be a half decent fight now."

A slight smirk tugged at the corner of Max's mouth, "Now, now Ames, don't put yourself down. You don't suck that much."

White and Max had begun to circle each other during their pre match conversation. The room was already small enough and the two familiars littering the floor, along with the large metal chair didn't help matters. 

"I will kill you 452" White sneered full of confidence. 

This time it was Max's turn to let out a short laugh.

"Yeah," she queried cocking her head ever so slightly to one side, "Go ahead and try."

White and Max lunged at each other almost simultaneously and met in the middle of the room, accompanied by several kicks and punches by both parties. Despite what either of them believed, they were quite evenly matched. They continued to fight in the small room seemingly taking turns at attacking and defending. They used every inch of the room to their advantage, not that the small room held many secrets, hidden or otherwise. Despite the impressive fight taking place between two highly skilled and motivated opponents, neither one appeared to be either winning or losing. 

*

The five intruders had made their way onto the base with relative ease. They had made it across the courtyard separating the southern and northern buildings undetected. It was only when they reached the inside of the northern building that the alarm had been tripped. Familiars came running from all directions to investigate and defend the facility if necessary. They all knew that 452 was being held there and a possible rescue mission for her could happen at any moment.  

"Shit" Alec yelled when he heard the shrill alarm sound all throughout the facility. 

"Looks like it's show time people" he said to the others who were following close behind him. 

"Just hold on a little longer Max" Alec whispered to himself, forgetting that he was wearing a headset meaning the others had heard him. 

"Little fella a fighter" Joshua's soothing yet worried voice came into Alec's ear. 

Alec cursed himself inwardly for forgetting the earpiece was there. He hadn't wanted to show his concern for Max during the mission. Now was when he had to be at his strongest. As much as for his sake as well as Max's. There would be time to be emotional, worried, hurt, concerned and all the other emotions that they were bound to experience later. But now was certainly not that time. 

"One person can only fight so much," Alec said sadly, " even if that person is Max."

He tried to push the sudden wave of dread and sadness that washed over him. He had a really bad feeling about this. Several familiars came running down the hall that Alec and the 4 anomalies occupied. They turned to retrace their steps down the hall but found that another bunch of familiars had entered the hallway behind them, thus blocking their escape route. It was time to fight. 

"Let's get this over quickly," Alec whispered to the others. 

They all nodded in agreement. The familiars on both sides of the small group advanced all at once. It was hard to tell everyone apart in the brawl that quickly broke out. It was just a good thing that neither party had opted to use their guns. The familiars seem quite satisfied to fight one on one with the transgenics. Joshua and Mole had been cornered by two of the familiars. They stood back to back and were working off of each other to fight against the familiars. Dix was in the process of circling around one familiar eyeing him off, as the familiar seemed quite content to do the same to Dix. Pepper on the other hand was fighting as much as he could, as hard as he could and to whoever got in his way. Despite the fact that he was trained as a medic he didn't seem to mind inflicting a considerable amount of damage on the familiars. Alec was doing much the same. He had already disposed of 3 familiars, who now lay strewn across the short width of the hallway. Several other bodies soon joined the pile on the floor and Alec stopped to survey the scene and see if any of the others needed his assistance. 

As he turned around to look Alec witnessed all of his friends and fellow soldiers on the mission to rescue Max, dispose of their familiar attackers. Dix had ceased simply circling around the familiar and had attacked him with tremendous speed considering what he was. There was no disrespect meant to any of the anomalies but Alec knew that they were built and trained for a different purpose than himself and all of the other X-series. Having thought that, Alec found himself being surprised and pleased with the efforts of the 4 anomalies. Pepper had run out of opponents and had taken great joy in disposing of one of the familiars that was fighting Joshua and Mole. Mole seemed slightly annoyed and took the opportunity to roll across the wide expanse that was Pepper's large back and kick the remaining familiar in the head sending him crashing into the wall. He then slumped to the floor in a heap, unconscious and surrounded by the bodies of his comrades, all of who were unconscious also. 

Alec was again pleased with his friend's efforts. It meant that now they could move onto finding Max instead of wasting time fighting off the familiars who were, basically, no match for them. They were currently on the ground floor of the northern building which meant that according to Alec's recollection of his capture they needed to head to flights down into the basement. They all headed to the stairwell and made the short journey down to the second basement level. There they all hoped they would find Max and they could leave without any further encounters with familiars and especially White, who they hadn't come across as of yet. 

*

White and Max were still battling it out and by the looks of things both were quite content to. They both appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the fight. For White this was what all his work, all his efforts boiled down to. If he could kill 452, the rogue transgenic who had caused so much trouble over so many years then surely it would break the spirits off all other transgenics, making his job of recapturing and killing them all the more easier. For Max, though, it obviously meant something completely different. White represented all that threatened her strength and, most of all, her life. If she could stop him than surely that would mean that she was stronger than she and everyone else thought. That thought alone was enough to drive her on. 

*

Alec, Joshua, Mole, Dix and Pepper made their way silently along the corridor on the first level of the basement. They were in search of the stairwell. Alec was the only one who had been here previously but he didn't remember leaving since he was unconscious. The plans Logan had provided Alec with and subsequently the plans that the mission was based on were missing a few basic details. While it did show both of the basement levels, it failed to show any of the vital details, such as rooms and stairwells. It couldn't be fixed, now however so Alec and the rest of the crew were silently slipping along the corridor in search of the stairwell that would lead them to Max. 

Alec soon located the door that opened up into the stairwell. He motioned for his 4 accomplices to make their way down the stairs. Once the four anomalies were on their way down the flight of stairs Alec followed making sure that they hadn't been spotted. This was the crucial part of the mission. Once at the bottom of the stairs Mole, who was at the front of the group, opened the door ever so slightly and looked out into the corridor. He looked for a few seconds then closed the door softly behind him so as to not make any noise. Mole spun round to face the group, a concerned look etched on his face. 

"There's 10 familiars in the corridor" he said in his quietest voice. 

That statement was followed by a collective groan from the remaining four. 

"What should we do now?" Dix asks, slightly taken aback by the situation they faced. 

Alec shrugs his shoulders and said simply, "I need to get to Max"

The others nod their agreement. It has occurred to more than one of them that they haven't seen White at all during their time at the facility. That can only mean that he is with Max doing god knows what to her. She could already be dead and if that is the case, the 4 anomalies know that Alec has to face that. He needs to know, whether it's good or bad. 

Mole interrupts the group's moment of being lost deep in thought. 

"Us 4," he says gesturing to himself, Dix, Joshua and Pepper, "will distracts the guards while you go and find Max"

The other 3 anomalies all nodded their heads as Alec shook his. They stared at him in wonder and confusion.

"I can't let you do all the fighting. After all I'm the one who got you all into this."

Alec had a determined look on his face. 

"She can hold on a little longer" 

Joshua stepped forward and placed a large hand on his friends shoulder. 

"Little fella needs you."

Alec started to dismiss the statement but Joshua continued, effectively cutting him off

"You said it yourself, one person can only fight so much, even Max"

Alec sighed in defeat. Joshua was right. It appeared that Joshua was always right.

"Fine, lets do this"

Mole, Joshua, Pepper and Dix quickly decided on a plan. Mole kicked the door open, which then went flying into the wall making a loud crashing noise, catching the familiars off guard and startling them for a few seconds. This was the opportunity that the anomalies had hoped for. Mole ran out into the corridor and began to fight the familiars. Pepper eagerly followed Mole after a minute of standing impatiently by the stairwell door. A minute later Joshua followed and after another minute had passed, Dix joined the fighting in the corridor. They had planned to stagger their attack to, hopefully, catch the familiars off guard time and time again with their sudden entrances and their appearances. It seemed to have worked and the familiars were being thrown to the ground left, right and center. They weren't giving up without an adequate fight, however, and the 4 anomalies had their work cut out for them. 

Alec watched from his position in the stairwell. He was to bypass all the fighting, hopefully undetected, and head down the corridor to get Max. By the time that he had found Max and gotten her out, the others would have finished fighting, thus clearing the way for their escape. At least that was the plan. Alec just hoped that it would go something like that. Alec spotted the exact moment he needed and, with a burst of speed, he blurred down the corridor. The familiars didn't notice. In fact, not even his own friends noticed him. 

*

Max and White had been fighting for a good 25 minutes now and it was starting to show, even despite their strength and abilities. With her hearing, Max had heard the commotion taking place down the corridor. White on the other hand, hadn't. However, a large familiar was being thrown into the wall by his ankles by an equally large transgenic. This caused a loud thumping sound and even shook the building slightly. White heard that and he was momentarily distracted. He turned to look if anyone had come to the door. At this stage there was no one. Max took the moment of Whites distraction to jump up and grab onto the ceiling beam that Alec had been hanging from. 

When White turned round to face her again she kicked him swiftly in the face sending him to the ground. There was a loud cracking noise as Whites nose broke, sending blood streaming down his face. Satisfied, Max dropped down from the beam and pounced on him immediately removing the gun from his holster that he hadn't bothered to use on her yet. She then began to punch him repeatedly in the face not noticing the blood that splattered up from Whites face with the force of her blows covering her hands and face. 

*

Alec made his way down the corridor and stopped in front of a door that he instantly recognized. He had only seen it briefly and from the inside of the cell but he knew this was where he had been held, which meant that this was where Max was being held, he hoped. A noise from inside the room broke him out of his moment of reminiscing and he peeked through the peephole in the thick metal door. What he saw shocked him. Max had White in a chokehold, effectively cutting off his air supply, and there was blooding pouring down White face. She was also holding a gun to his head. He assumed that it was White's gun since Max would never touch one or bring it on a mission, even one against White. 

Despite that, however, Max was now, seemingly quite happily and with all the ease of someone who used guns all the time, holding a gun to White's head. Alec was frozen to the spot, unable to move. No one had ever gotten the better of White mainly because no one had tried. They simply subdued him as best they could while trying not to get hurt and then left so as to not be captured and killed. Max on the other hand was taking this to a whole new level. This wasn't Max at all. She would never usually take on White to this extent or use a gun. Alec looked on in horror at the events unfolding before him. 

Max was pissed mainly with herself but being able to take it out on White was great therapy indeed. She needed to cleanse herself of what had happened, or what she had almost let happen in the cell. 

"I'm not weak" Max screamed startling both White and Alec. Alec was confused. He had no idea what that meant or why Max was screaming it at White. All he could do was watch. 

Max waited for White to answer but when he didn't she screamed again,

"I'm not weak, say it"

After several attempts hindered by the chokehold Max had around his neck, White managed to grunt out, "You're not weak 452"

Max seemed somewhat pleased that White had said what she wanted but he continued. 

"Your not weak 452," White repeated, "But are you strong enough to pull the trigger" he added. 

"Oh don't tempt me Ames" Max spat out

Even in his current situation, White simply couldn't help himself, "If the roles were reversed you'd be dead and being dissected by now"

Max wasn't surprised or shocked by the news as she knew what kind of sick mother White was, instead her eyes immediately darkened. White couldn't see that from his position but Alec certainly could from his. He knew that look and he instantly knew what Max was about to do. Max was going to kill White. He had to stop her, as she would, no doubt, hate herself later for it. He ripped open the door and burst into the room. 

"Max no" he yelled catching both Max and White off guard. 

Max didn't falter or loosen her grip on White. Her eyes lighten and the urge to kill had left her but she still needed to do something. So instead of killing him, Max flipped the gun round and smacked the butt of the gun into the base of Whites skull. She watched on satisfied as he slumped to the ground unconscious. She then turned to Alec who stood in shock staring at White on the floor. He tore his eyes away and looked over at Max who was now staring at him. 

"Max…" he started to stay but trailed off when he realized that he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think either. Max made her way to the door of the cell. She stood in the doorway and looked back in. This was the sight of two of the worst moments in her life. Where she almost lost Alec and where she almost lost herself. 

"Let's go Alec" Max said softly as she left the room and made her way down the corridor. Alec stood for a few more seconds, still in shock and then followed Max out of the room and down the corridor. 

Max and Alec soon caught up to the rest of the group. 

"Hey guys" she greeted them in a friendly manner as if they were passing each other on the streets of Terminal City. The 4 anomalies looked shocked and confused. They watched Max walk past them and disappear into the stairwell and then looked to Alec for some answers. He simply shrugged, shook his head and continued to follow Max. The others fell into step behind Alec, all very confused. 

The group of 6 now made their way back to the perimeter of the facility. They didn't encounter any more resistance from the familiars. They basically had free run of the facility and walked right out the front gates. Those guards that were left were in such shock at the sight before them that they didn't move or put up any fight at all. Once outside the facility the group made their way through the woods towards their transport. Mole, Joshua, Dix and Pepper all made their way over to the van while Alec headed to his motorcycle. Instead of heading for the van with the others, Max made her way to her motorcycle, which was parked near Alec's motorcycle, hidden by a group of shrubs. She hoped on and was about to start up the engine when Alec placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"What are you doing Max?" he asked obviously not amused with her stubbornness. 

"Going home," she replied casually while putting her gloves on. 

"In the van, yes so Pepper can take a look and make sure you're alright" Alec replied through gritted teeth, rapidly losing his patience. 

Max looked at him as if he'd grown an extra head. Alec could tell that she was about to argue with him, like she always did, but this time he had to put a stop to it before she even got started. As Max opened her mouth to protest, Alec cut her off

"No Max, no arguments, just go" he ordered her. 

An angry look spread across Max's features. 'How dare he!' She thought to herself. He had no right to boss her around. Max desperately needed to be far away from here and especially far away from Alec. She started to start up the motorcycle and just over the roar of the engine she heard Alec say, 

"You leave me no choice" 

in one swift movement Alec grabbed the gun that was tucked into the waistband of Max's cargos and shot out the front tire on her motorcycle. Max continued to sit on the motorcycle in shock. The rest of the group gathered by the side of the van looked on in amusement. They knew that Alec was only trying to protect Max but they also knew that Max would never let herself be protected, especially by Alec. Alec stepped back a few feet, as he was sure that Max would lash out at him. That he could handle. That he was used to. But nothing could prepare him for what happened next. Alec watched as Max cut the engine and slid off of the machine. She took a few steps forward towards Alec and he took several more steps backwards away from her and her deadly reach. 

Max tilted her head to the side and smirked at Alec. He was surprised.  Max closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around Alec's waist under his leather jacket. She rested her chin on his chest, looked up at him, into his eyes and smiled. Alec was dumbstruck. He shoots her motorcycle and she hugs him? It was just too weird. The onlookers were all surprised as well. Alec was slow to react and just as he was about to savor Max being pressed up against his body and wrap his arms around her to prolong the experience, she pulled away. Max had to laugh at the look on Alec's face. He was like a puppy dog that tilted their head to one side when they were confused. It was priceless. 

Max then started to move slowly backwards, one step at a time away from Alec. He simply stood there frozen to the spot and watched as she slid onto his motorcycle. She turned and smiled again at him as she held up his keys for all to see. She had hugged him to get his keys. Mole let out a loud laugh breaking Alec out of his trance. 

"Shit" he yelled as he watched Max gun the engine and roar out onto the road. 

She wasted no time in putting as much distance between herself, the facility and Alec. Alec would have chased after her but he knew that it would do no good. The van was no match for his motorcycle and Max's bike had a tire shot out, thanks to him. Alec sighed. He turned to see 4 rather amused faces staring at him. He sighed again. Max was going to pay for this one. 

"Let's get going," he said as he tried to drown out the laughter of his friends who were all finding the situation highly amusing. 

As they made their way back to the facility, Alec had time to think. Why had Max almost killed White? Max was hardly the killing sort, she never even used a gun, so for her to be about to kill White with his own gun meant something major had to have gone down there. Alec desperately wanted to know what that was. He was concerned for Max and wanted to help her. That's all he ever wanted to do. Just be there for her and help her if she needed it, even when she wouldn't admit that she actually did need help. It seems though that she hadn't needed his help in escaping from White. Alec was concerned about that as well. Why had she stayed and fought him when she should've, and obviously could've, just escaped? There were far too many questions and it was beginning to make his head hurt. Alec closed his eyes and rested his head against the cool metal of the van. His thoughts were soon interrupted. 

"Why did we have to bring this thing back?" Mole grumbled and kicked the motorcycle taking up most of the passenger space in the back of the van and squashing him against the side of the van in the process. 

"Because she'd kill me if we didn't" Alec replied simply looking over at Mole. 

Mole continued to grumble to himself, despite the fact that he knew Alec was right. Alec again rested his head against the side of the van and began to try and answer some of the questions that were racing thought his mind as they sped towards Terminal City. 

Max was doing much the same thing. She had stolen Alec's bike so she could be on her own and have time to think as she made her way back to Terminal City. The wind rushed through her hair and it gave her a sense of freedom that couldn't be copied anywhere else. Max had scared herself with the behavior she had displayed back at the facility. Now she needed to know why she had done what she did. 


	10. Revelations & Confusion

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, **DOES** contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

Chapter 10:  Revelations & Confusion 

Alec, the van and all its other occupants had returned safely to Terminal City several hours ago. Max, on the other hand, hadn't shown up yet. Alec was more confused and worried than ever before. Max had done some strange things in her time but stealing his bike and not returning to Terminal City had to be the worst so far, at least according to him it was. Alec couldn't help or shake the feeling he had that Max wasn't coming back. He dearly hoped that wasn't the case. He needed to know that she was all right. Not only because of what had happened with White but just in general. From what he had been told about her rescuing him and from what he had witnessed himself, something was not quite right with her. Yet again all he wanted to do was help her, if she'd let him that is. 

*

Max had simply been riding around for hours. She didn't know where she was going, nor did she care. All she knew was that she wasn't ready to go back to Terminal City just yet. When she did she would have to answer a multitude of questions. Ones that she couldn't face. Ones that she didn't have answers for. She also knew that there would be one person in particular who would be curious about her. Alec. Why had she never seen before just how caring he was? He was always looking out for and protecting her and she never even realized it. 'But why?' Max thought to herself. Why would Alec do that for her? It wasn't as if she was nice to him, ever. This new thought only confused Max even more. 

*

His leg was troubling him. He knew that even before he had gone on the mission to the facility. He didn't care then and he didn't care now, well almost didn't. Alec made his way to the infirmary to see what could be done about the bullet wound in his leg that had reopened.  Salt ushered him over to a bed and began to take care of his wound. Sometime during the process, Alec drifted off into a troubled sleep. His dreams were always filled with images of the past and usually all the bad ones. The ones of people he knew dying, of contacts he killed and of innocent civilians losing their lives in the crossfire of a human/transgenic war. The only time Alec ever got a decent amount of sleep was when he dreamed of Max. She truly was his savior. In the dream world as well as the real world. He loved her and would also be forever grateful for the amazing creature that was Max. 

*

Max noticed her fuel gage was hinting towards empty. She sighed. It was time to face the music. So, she headed back to Terminal City to do just that.

*

Alec awoke to find that it was late afternoon. He had slept for a couple of hours straight. That was highly unusual. What was usual, however, was that Max was the first thing on his mind when he awoke, just as it was first thing in the morning and then again at night before he drifted off into sleep. He couldn't rid himself of her even if he wanted to. Seeing as though it was late afternoon and several more hours had passed, Alec wondered if Max was back yet. He desperately hoped that she was. He decided to go and see for himself. 

Alec was about to slip out of the bed he had occupied for the past several hours in search of Max when lo and behold who should walk through the door of the infirmary? He watched on as Max made her way over to Salt. They had a brief and rather hushed conversation before Max was ushered to a bed. Salt then came over to Alec with an expectant look on her face. Alec now slipped out of the bed and waited in anticipation.

"You can leave now," Salt said to him softly. 

That wasn't exactly what he had been expecting. 

"What?" he replied, not at all softly. 

"You've had your rest, now it's time for Max to have hers" Salt stated simply.

"But…" he began to protest before he was cut off

"No buts, just go" Salt said as she gently pushed Alec towards the door, "you can come back later" she added before closing the door with Alec on the other side of it. 

He stood there with a puzzled look on his face. What was all that about? Didn't Max want to see him? And if not, why not? Alec thought he was confused by Max's behavior before but he had yet to experience what he had just been through. He would never understand the way her mind worked and yet he did and was possibly the only one that did. More confusion. It seemed to be a continuing trend lately. 

When Salt had said that he could come back later, Alec had believed her and why shouldn't he? He had no reason not to. But that had been three days ago. How much longer could later possibly mean? He needed to see Max. He needed to know why she was staying in the infirmary for three days straight when there was nothing wrong with her. He decided that tonight he would take some action. 

Alec snuck along the corridor that led up to the infirmary door. Every time he had tried to see Max over the past few days, which was about every hour he was turned away. He was here now to put a stop to that. He was sure that she wouldn't actually be sleeping but if she were he would simply wait until she woke up and talk to her then. Alec crept right up to the door and tried the handle. It was locked, just as it had been all the other times he had tried it. But this time he had come prepared. He made short work of picking the lock and silently made his way inside. 

Alec crept silently towards Max's bed. It was under a window. Moonlight was streaming in onto the bed illuminating it and Max. He could see now that she was awake and simply staring out the window. He stayed along the wall in the shadows and took the opportunity to look at her. He couldn't see any visible injuries apart from the bandage on her shoulder but she already had that. Alec was content to watch her and he stayed that way for several minutes. 

Max had been lying in the same bed staring out the window, staring at the ceiling or occasionally sleeping for three whole days now. She was going crazy. This was nothing at all like her. But what she had nearly done at the facility was not like her and so was the feeling of love for Alec that she simply couldn't shake, no matter how hard she tried. All she needed was some time alone to think and that's exactly what she had done. In that time, she had made some startling revelations about herself and her life in those three days. 

She was in love with Alec but she had already discovered that several days ago even before she thought he was dead. It had time to sink in now and Max was quite used to the idea. As she continued her musing a very important thought struck her. White was right, she was weak. She had made the promise to herself to shut herself off from all that compromised her strength and she intended to honour that promise. All she needed to do was work out what exactly had compromised her strength. Max then combined her two major lines of thinking over the past three days, love for Alec and weakness. It hit her like a ton of bricks. It, everything all came down to one thing, one person. Alec. 

He was her weakness. She knew she loved him and that had altered her way of thinking and her way of life but she also knew now that loving Alec was what made her so weak. When she thought Alec was dead, her love for him had taken a strong hold of all her other emotions. She no longer wanted to live because she would be living without him. Because of what she felt for Alec and the decisions that she made she was willingly to let White of all people kill her without even putting up a struggle of any kind. Max was again ashamed of herself for her actions. 

She knew now what had happened. It wasn't so much love that had made her weak but more importantly her love for Alec that had made her weak. She then made another startling self-revelation. She was never in love with Logan. She truly thought she was but she simply couldn't have been. If she were than surely she would have been weakened by her love for him just as she had been by her love for Alec. She wasn't entirely sure about everything but she did know one thing. Logan could never be the 'one' for her. Not after she discovered she had stronger feelings for someone else, especially when that someone else was Alec of all people. Someone she was willingly to lose her life for. 

A battle rage inside of Max's mind as she desperately tried to figure out what everything meant. She knew and understood now that while she was quite prepared to lose her life for Alec she was only ever willingly to risk her life for Logan. There was quite a difference and the implications were not lost on her. She knew then that her decision to never see Logan again was indeed the right choice. Now, however, it was not just because he betrayed her, but also because she didn't love him and never had. Max knew that if she ever told Logan she didn't love him that he wouldn't understand. It would be a difficult thing to explain without hurting Logan more by telling him that not only did she never love him and she found out by realising that she was in love with Alec. That would undoubtedly crush him so she decided to never tell Logan the real reason. She may not be willingly to die for him but she was still willingly to protect him. 

Max had now come to three major conclusions over her three-day brainstorming session. 1. That she never loved Logan 2. That she was in love with Alec and 3. That her love her Alec made her weak, weaker than she had ever been in her entire life. There was one major decision left for Max. She already knew what it was but was putting it off as long as she could. She was going to have to do the hardest thing she had ever done. She was going to have to rid herself of Alec for good. It didn't matter if she loved him more than life itself. It was the right thing to do, for her, for him and all the people that were counting on them both. It would be the only thing possible to ensure she stayed strong for herself and for all the others that depended on her. 

It was after that moment of clarity that she sensed him. At first she thought it was her mind playing cruel tricks on her but his scent grew stronger as he lingered in her room. She sighed. Of all the times for him to show up over the three days she had been here, he picked the exact moment she had come to the decision to give him up for good despite being in love with him. It definitely was some cruel joke after all. Max sighed again, knowing full well what she had to do but still dreading every moment of it. 

"I thought I told Salt no visitors," she said in a flat tone, startling Alec who thought his presence couldn't and hadn't been detected.

"You've been lying in bed for 3 days now Max."

"What's your point?" she asked still not looking away from something that had apparently attracted her attention outside the window. 

"1. You're a transgenic so you should be more than better by now and 2. Your Max, who doesn't like to be in one place for too long and who doesn't sleep."

Max just sighed. He made some valid points. He knew her too well. It was to bad she was going to have to push him away, especially since she loved him. She didn't want Alec to get the better of her so Max decided the best option would be anger. 

"You don't know anything about me," she yelled suddenly getting angry and sitting up in her bed. 

Alec was taken aback by her sudden outburst. 'Where the hell did that come from?' he thought to himself. 

"Max?" he asked in a concerned and slightly hesitant tone. 

"Get out" she screamed as she turned to look directly at him. 

Alec didn't know what was going on or why Max was so angry but seeing her like this only made him want to talk to her and help her all the more. He started to edge closer towards the bed. Max could sense the worry emanating off of him. This was not what she needed. He was supposed to get angry himself and end up hating her, not be worried about her. Alec stopped next to her bed and stared down at her. His eyes were silently pleading with her to open up to him. She didn't see this though as she was too busy thinking of a new plan of attack. 

'Ok, take another angle' she thought to herself, 'perhaps guilt'

Alec was mere centimeters away from her now. His closeness was unnerving her so she slid out of the bed for the first time in three days and put some much needed space between them. She then unleashed her new attack.

 "I didn't go in there and save your arse so you could go and get it killed again." she screamed.

Alec was getting more and more confused. He had watched as she slid out of the bed and crossed the room and again he watched as she yelled at him, just like usual. But this yelling was different. Max knew what the real reason was. She was grateful that Alec had come back for her otherwise she would have been the one who went back to the facility only to end up dead. As her words hit his ears, Alec felt his anger rising. 

"Jesus Max, try to be grateful for once in your life" he yelled back at her throwing his hands up in the air. 

"Grateful?" she screamed at him, "I could never be grateful for you"

Her words cut him deeper than Max would, and possibly even he would, ever realize. All the torment he had endured in his life, all the trips to Psy Ops, the heartache he had gone through with Rachel and all the other general hurt in his life could never have prepared him for the pain and anguish he felt at that moment. But old habits die hard and he tried not to let it show. He was good at not letting things show. He just wished he were as good at not letting things affect him, especially when they came from Max. Instead of getting angrier, Alec again tried to calm Max down instead. This was not what she had expected and wanted. She had just said the most horrible thing she had ever said to him before, something she knew would affect him and instead of getting angry and leaving he was still here. That wasn't part of the plan. 

"Max," he whispered softly in fear of his voice cracking, "please tell me what's really wrong"

She couldn't believe him. After all she had put him through, deliberate and otherwise he was still trying to help her. This was too much for her, especially now that she knew she loved him. Max could feel her mask slipping. The strain, stress, anguish and emotional journey she had undertaken over the last three days finally took its toll on her. 

Max backed away from Alec until she was against the wall of the infirmary. Once she hit it with her back she slid down it until she was resting on the floor. She then pulled her knees up to her chest, rested her head on her arms and began to cry. She cried more than she ever thought possible, even after she thought Alec was dead which was really saying something. The tears simply wouldn't stop flowing and Max allowed them to come. 

Alec was in shock at the sight before him. But that didn't stop it from breaking his heart. He needed to know what was going on now more than ever. Nothing made Max cry so whatever it was had to be pretty big. He closed the gap between them once more and knelt down beside her. He rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. She just continued to cry and shake from the fierce nature of her tears. Alec couldn't stand the sight any longer. He took hold of her and pulled her into him, sitting her on his lap and engulfing her in a hug. Max welcomed and took great relief in the contact and the gesture made by Alec. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. 

They stayed that way for several minutes. Her tears began to subside and Alec gently pulled her away from his chest and used his finger to tilt her chin so she was looking at him. She simply stared at him, unable to form any words. Alec smoothed back some ragged hairs and tucked them behind her ears. He then kissed her on the forehead. Max let out a soft whimper. 

"Tell me what's wrong" he whispered

She shook her head. 

"Please?" he pleaded this time with his voice as well as his eyes. 

Max took a shaky breath. 

"I told White something I shouldn't have." Her whisper was barely audible, even for transgenically improved hearing. 

"What? Was it about ray? Was it about terminal city?" he asked all in a rush panicking slightly. 

Again Max shook her head, "it was about you" she said in another whispered voice

"Me?" Alec asked in surprise, "What could White possibly want to know about me?" then a quite disturbing thought struck him, "What do you know about me that would interest White?" he asked in a rush, desperate to know the answer. 

Max couldn't speak. His kind gesture when she was crying touched her and staring into his eyes had affected her more than she ever thought possible. She knew then one of the reasons why she loved him so deeply. But she simply couldn't tell him like this, in fact she couldn't tell him at all. 

"It would be better if we didn't associate any more." Max said without moving from the comfort his arms and body gave her as the tears streamed down her face unhindered again.

"Max this can't be what you want." Alec asked more confused than ever before. He searched her face for the answer. 

"It's not what I want but it has to be done." Max said softly and sadly. 

"Why?" was all Alec could manage to ask. It seemed to be the beginning to so many of his questions. Why was she crying? Why had she been hauled up in the infirmary for three days straight? Why had she almost killed White? Why did it matter to her so much that White didn't think she was weak? 

"I can't," she sobbed out

"I don't believe you, tell me what happened that's making you do this Max." 

Alec began to shake her softly as if trying to break her out of the trance she was in that was making her say these crazy things. He couldn't live without her and yet here she was in his lap of all places telling him that they shouldn't associate any more. It was too difficult and painful to even comprehend. 

"Max" he began to speak again before being cut off

"Alec please I've put you in danger"

"You always put me in danger" he said trying to lighten the mood without really thinking about what he was saying. 

The look that crossed Max's features pained Alec to no end. He hadn't meant to say it like that. It hadn't come out right. It was supposed to be a joke not hurt her. That was never his intention. 

"That's not what I meant Max." 

"No, no I understand" Max said as she extricated herself from his body and stood up. She crossed the room to sit on the edge of her bed once more. Alec followed her actions and came to stand in front of her. 

 "Max please, why and you shutting me out?" he asked

Her head fell and more tears traced their way down the contours of her face, dripping silently onto the bed. 

 "Just go," she whispered to him in between sobbing. 

Alec hated seeing Max like this, especially since he couldn't fix it. But he wasn't one to disobey a request from her. He would do anything for her and if that anything was leaving her alone than he would just have to comply. He made his way to the door of the infirmary and watched as Max made her way under the covers on the bed and cried into her pillow. He needed to do something to cheer her up and fast. As Alec made his way down the corridor of the infirmary and outside, a thought occurred to him and soon he had the perfect plan in his mind. All he had to do now was put it into place. 


	11. Confrontations but No Confessions

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, **DOES** contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

**A/N1: **Sorry this has taken awhile but once again life has gotten in the way of more important things.  I hope this chapter makes up for it

Chapter 11: Confrontations but no Confessions

Logan hadn't seen or heard from Max for several days now. He was beginning to think that she had meant what she'd said about never wanting to see him again. But surely that wasn't the case. Surely she wouldn't give up on both him and them after waiting for over a year for them to finally be together? Max didn't give up on things or the people she cared about. Logan was confident about that fact, just as he was that Max did indeed care about him and more than anyone else. He decided that she was just busy with trying to run Terminal City and recovering from her wounds. She would be over to see him as soon as she could. Then they would sit down together and enjoy a home cooked meal and each other's company. Just like the old times before everything got complicated. 

If Logan actually allowed his brain to stop and think clearly, for a change, he would have felt guilt and remorse at this particular train of thought. Max wouldn't still be at Terminal City recovering from injuries if it weren't for him. He was the one who caused her to be injured in the first place. Alec wouldn't be near death if it weren't for him as well. Once again his selfish desire for the cure took a front seat and all rational thought was left far behind. He just couldn't see that his fears had put all those around him in danger. His mind wouldn't register that fact and Logan continued to believe that he had done nothing wrong. 

Logan was jolted out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. 'She's here!' he immediately thought, as he made his way to the door as fast as his legs would allow. 'She's come back to me just like I knew she would'

*

All Alec wanted to do was cheer her up, so if that meant bringing Logan to see her, that's exactly what he'd do. So what if it wasn't what he wanted? It was what Max wanted and needed and that was all that mattered to him. So here Alec was standing outside of Logan's apartment debating with himself whether he really wanted to do this or not. All the thoughts and comments that ran through his mind as to why he shouldn't knock on Logan's door, and there were thousands, were far outweighed by just one thought, Max's well-being. He sighed, knowing this was what he had to do all along. It was now or never. 

He raised his hand and knocked on the large wooden door several times, before waiting patiently for a response. He didn't have to wait long at all, in fact it was mere seconds until the large door was flung open and a very excited looking Logan stood in the doorway with a huge grin plastered on his face.

Alec cringed slightly inwardly. 'I hope I don't look like that when I grin. He looks so stupid' was the first thought that occurred to him. Neither of the men spoke for several second, both were lost deep in thought. Logan was less than pleased that it was Alec instead of Max that was standing outside his door. His face conveyed his emotions perfectly. 

When Logan thrust open the door he was expecting to see Max with a soft face and an apology on her lips for yelling at him. He was shocked to see Alec looking remarkably well off for someone supposedly on his deathbed. He looked worried which in turn made Logan worried. The bright and cocky always all right young X-5 never worried about anything or anyone but himself. This had to be something major for Alec to willingly come to Logan of all people. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks and the scowl that was already firmly planted on his face deepened considerably. 

"All right, how much do you need?" Logan asked in an annoyed tone

"What?" Alec asked clearly surprised.  Did Logan think he was some sort of door-to-door salesman? Logan was rapidly losing patience

"Money Alec," he said in an exasperated tone, clearly annoyed that he had to explain himself. After all he was trying to do the right thing and lend Alec the money he needed. He was even saving him the embarrassment of asking for it himself directly and thus admitting his wrong doings. One of the traits that was blatantly obvious to the entire X series was pride. Logan has seen this streak in Max the moment he met her and the same streak had been obvious the moment he met Alec as well. 

"How much do you need?" he repeated slowly as if talking to a child. 

"Money?" Alec asked dumbly still none the wiser as to what the hell Logan was talking about. Maybe he'd hit his head recently. That was a possibility after all he still hadn't left the doorway allowing Alec inside. What kind of host he was? 

"For the skank you knocked up" Logan answered in a patronizing tone

"I did what to what!?" Alec yelled in horror and surprise. The head trauma idea was looking more and more possible. What the hell was Logan on about? Had he got some sort of radiation poisoning from sitting in front of the computer for too long?

Alec shook his head and decided that he would never find out what was going on with Logan so he decided to ignore it and reveal why he was really here.

"This is about Max" Alec stated calmly

But that seemed to be the worst possible thing to say as it threw Logan into a hysterical fit. His face turned bright red, his eyes grew wide with shock and his mouth hung wide open. All this facial activity caused Logan's glasses to nearly slip off the end of his nose. Alec had to try very hard to suppress his laughter. 

"You knocked up Max?" Logan chocked out after several seconds of spluttering and gaping like a fish.

All thoughts of laughter quickly vanished and all the color quickly drained from Alec's face. Logan really had lost it. Alec was in a daze. Why the hell would Logan think he'd knocked anyone up, especially Max? Despite being in a daze Alec still managed to easily block the punch Logan threw at his face. He grabbed the fist and twisted it painfully behind Logan's back causing him to yelp out in pain. 

"You keep your hands off her," Logan screamed.

This caused Alec to laugh and he simply couldn't help the instant retort that escaped his lips, 

"Unlike you Logan, I shall touch Max whenever I want"

This only served to further infuriate Logan

"Let me go you bastard" Logan snarled at Alec as he struggled to free himself from the tight hold on his wrist. 

Alec tried to remain calm, for Max's sake he kept telling himself. This is all for Max. Alec tightened his grip on Logan's hand to assure he had his complete and undivided attention. Logan immediately stopped moving. He knew it was a waste of time and effort to try and escape Alec's grasp so he gave up and waited for an explanation. 

"Max is upset," Alec explained in a calm and cold voice, "I came here to get you so you could hopefully cheer her up" he finished and let go of Logan's arm. Logan immediately spun round and faced Alec with a look of pure hatred. As he rubbed his wrist, Logan thought about what Alec had said. So Max was upset, obviously about yelling at him and telling him she never wanted to see him again. She wanted to see him that was good. But why didn't she come to see him herself? Probably because it was too risky for her to leave Terminal City. 'Then why did Alec leave?' A small voice inside Logan's head asked. He didn't have an answer for the question, so he put it down to Alec being irresponsible and ignoring whatever rules were in place in Terminal City. Logan beamed. He was pleased with both his assessments regarding the situation but when he came back into focus and saw Alec staring at him expectantly, his scowl returned. 

"So you didn't knock her up then?" he asked hesitantly as he took a step backwards just incase Alec decided to put him in some sort of hold again.  

Alec sighed and rolled his eyes in a fashion that was remarkably similar to Max's. An image of Max, Alec and a breathtakingly gorgeous baby all rolling their eyes at him flashed through Logan's mind. He quickly shook the image from his mind, silently willingly it never to return. Logan vaguely heard Alec telling him no he hadn't knocked up Max and to get a grip.

The two men quickly made their way to Terminal City. Alec set a steady pace on his motorcycle and Logan followed in his beloved Bessie. Both men had a lot on their minds, so much so that even if they were traveling together they wouldn't have spoken a word to each other. Logan was busily thinking up all the different ways Max was going to apologize to him. Alec on the other hand was confused as to whether he'd done the right thing. He was also confused as to why Logan hadn't asked why Max was upset. It would be the first thing he would have asked if the roles had been reversed. A shudder went through his body at the thought of being Logan. Alec couldn't help but laugh. 

*

Max had a lonely life. But she already knew that. So why did she feel alone now more than ever? The question had been rolling around in her mind for the past few hours. She hadn't left the infirmary yet. Her run in with Alec last night had left her drained and she decided she needed just a few more days of being tucked away to think. She had fallen into an exhausted sleep sometime last night and had woken up feeling only slightly better and slightly refreshed. Apart from the question in her mind about being alone, Max was slightly annoyed that Alec was adhering to her request to stay away. Sure she had asked him to but when did that ever stop Alec?

Once again the two thoughts in her mind joined together and she knew know why she was more alone than ever. It was because she no longer had Alec in her life. So what if it had only been several hours? The void was most defiantly there. But this was what Max thought was for the best. She was just going to have to learn to live with the pain, just as she had been doing for all of her life. Her heart ached and she knew that this was her biggest loss of all. The tears fell freely once again and she cried herself into another exhausted sleep. 

*

Alec led Logan through Terminal City and to the infirmary. The countless number of glares and death stares that were sent his way went unnoticed by Logan but Alec picked up on them all. He started back at each one and silently issued a challenge. He's' with me, you challenge him you challenge me. Despite what some people, mainly Max and Logan would think, Alec was highly respected and trusted in Terminal City and through out the entire population of transgenic and anomalies. When the inhabitants saw that Logan was with Alec and that Alec meant business they all immediately shook their heads at the silent message Alec had asked. Their respect for Alec far outweighed their hate for Logan and all other ordinaries. 

Alec was pleased that they had reached the infirmary unharmed. He really didn't want to be fighting his own people to save the likes of Logan. Especially since he was so oblivious to the danger he was in. For a smart man he could certainly be very dumb at times. Alec's mind quickly thought back to when he had gone to get Logan. He started sprouting some shit about Alec having knocked up someone and he was offering money. That got Alec's mind to wondering what he would do if that situation ever did occur. He would take care of his baby that was for sure. But Alec knew that he would never allow himself to have a child unless he was in love with the mother. That being the case Alec knew that he would never want to have a child with anyone apart from Max. He sighed, knowing full well that the chances of having a child with Max were more remote than Ames White turning himself in and calling a halt to the breeding cult and trying to kill all transgenics. 

Alec sighed again and tried to focus on the present. He was suddenly very nervous about seeing Max again. After all she had told him that they shouldn't associate anymore but they were running T.C together. If that meant that Alec had to escort a visitor to see the leader than he would do just that. Alec chose to forget the fact that he had specifically gone and gotten the visitor. That simply wasn't important. Alec and Logan had stopped outside the door to the infirmary. 

"Wait here and I'll see if she's awake," Alec said softly. 

"But…" Logan started to protest but was silenced by a menacing look from Alec, "I'll wait here," he answered sulkily.  

Alec, who seemed to be ignoring Logan now, took a deep breath and entered the infirmary. 

The sight in front of him instantly saddened Alec. Max was exactly how he'd left her the night before. She was curled up in a tight ball on the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped firmly around them as if trying to protect herself even in her sleep. It was obviously she had cried herself to sleep again. The tears streaks still marked her blotchy face and her eyes were still red and puffy. Alec just wished he could help even if it was only the tiniest amount, as he hated seeing her like this. This wasn't her. This wasn't right. 

He edged his way over to the bed and gently shook Max awake. She blinked several times to gather both her surrounding and her mind. Upon seeing Alec next to her bed, Max immediately started to tear up again. Alec's heart was breaking just looking at her so he did the only thing he could think to do in the situation. He hugged her. He wrapped his strong arms around her small frame and held her tight to his body. As Max sobbed into his shoulder, Alec stroked her hair and whispered words of comfort into the quieted room. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours to Alec, Max stopped crying. She pulled back and looked at Alec. His face was etched with worry that she could plainly see. But what she wasn't expecting to see was all the emotions dancing around in his soft green eyes. Worry, pain, confusion and another emotion she simply couldn't put her finger on. Never before had he been so vulnerable, or more accurately let his vulnerability show and especially not to Max. In the back of her mind, Max had always thought the "I'm always alright" line to be exactly what it was, utter bullshit. Now she knew without a doubt that was true. She could see as plain as day all that went on behind Alec's wall, behind his eyes. It was amazing to see and Max felt privileged as she was sure she would be one of a select few, if not the only one who had ever seen him like this. 

The fact that Alec was opening up to her made Max momentarily forget about her promise to herself. She pulled Alec closer to her body, if that was even possible, and stared into his eyes. She was lost completely in the depths so full of emotions that she spoke without realizing exactly what she was saying.

"I missed you," she said causing the eyes she was staring into to widen slightly. Alec was surprised to say the least. He had hoped that Max wouldn't be angry when she saw him but this reaction was far better than any he could have dreamed. 

They were close now. Their embrace had tightened and their faces were now mere centimeters away from each other. Max was lost in Alec's eyes and Alec was simply lost in the feel of Max. The way she felt in his arms and so close to his body, the small smile that was on her lips and the way she was looking at him, into his eyes and into his soul. Max was drained from her soul searching over the past few days and trying to come to terms with both finding and giving up Alec. He was a major part of her life and she'd never realized or acknowledged it before. But now that she had, she was being forced to give him up forever. It was too much for her to handle. 

Being here now in his arms was a dream come true for Max. But that confused her and she was unsure whether it was an actual dream or not.  Max was so caught up in the moment that she let another revelation that should've been kept to herself if she wanted any chance of keeping her promise slip. Dream or no dream she needed to say this, as much for her sake as Alec's. 

"I need you so much Alec," she barely whispered before placing a soft kiss on his lips. 

Just seconds before Alec had been reveling in the feel on Max and now she was kissing him. This feeling far surpassed any other he had felt in his entire life. Nothing would ever top this moment for Alec. But before he had a chance to make the most of it and respond, the kiss was over. He was stunned and elated and to him at least, Max looked to be feeling the same way. That made him even happier. Now that he had made her happy it was time to make her ecstatic. Alec pulled back ever so slightly.

"I have a surprise for you" he whispered while disentangling himself from Max. 

Alec made his way over to the door as an eager and excited Max watched on in anticipation. Alec opened the door, stuck his head out and motioned to Logan to come inside. Alec held the door open for Logan to walk through. Not out of courteous but rather so he had the chance to see Max's face. Logan strolled into the room with a smug look on his face and headed towards Max. Alec did indeed get the chance to see Max's face as she saw Logan for the first time but the reaction he witnessed was far from what he had expected. 

The moment Logan walked into the room Max's entire world crumbled and her entire face fell. The happiness that had surrounded her just minutes earlier vanished as if it had never been there. Why was he here? Had she not made it clear that she never wanted to see him again? The sadness she was feeling was quickly overtaken by anger as all the memories of Logan betraying her and leaving Alec for dead came flooding back to her. Max went from happy to distraught and sad to pissed beyond belief in several seconds flat. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" she yelled raising both her voice and herself from off the bed. Max stood, shakily at first but then with more determination as her anger grew with the seconds that Logan was in the room with that look on his face. The look that said 'it's ok Max I know you were wrong as always and I forgive you because I'm the greatest and I'm never wrong'. It made Max sick but worst of all. It made her want to wipe that smile off of his face, permanently. 

"Now, now Max. You're weak. Why don't you hop back into bed and rest?" Logan suggested sincerely. 

Max simply snorted as her response. Alec was in shock. He had never seen Max be so hostile towards Logan before and he was thoroughly enjoying what he was seeing. After all, Logan did deserve it for being an arse. 

Logan took several steps towards Max but he was abruptly stopped. Max had turned away from Logan so she wouldn't have to face him and put her hand out at arms length gesturing him to stop.

"Don't" she said and sighed

"But…"Logan started to protest before he was once again cut off. 

"Look we've been through this before Logan," Max said quietly while still not facing him, "you don't get to tell me what I should do ever again. Remember?" she asked as she turned her head and held his gaze. 

Alec looked on from beside the doorway. He had originally intended to torture himself by witnessing the happy reunion and then slipping quietly unnoticed out the door. But upon seeing the exchange taking place between Logan and Max he hadn't been game enough to move, not even to leave. Besides part of him did want to see how this ended and also what Max was referring to. Obviously Max and Logan have had a conversation similar to this one and Alec wanted to know why. What had happened to change things between them so dramatically? Alec was broken out of his thoughts by Max starting to speak again. 

"I want you to leave," she said calmly 

"But your upset" Logan protested. 

"Yes," Max agreed, "but only because you're here" she added spitefully. 

"Max, don't be like this. I'm here to help" Logan offered smoothly. 

This comment got to Max. Even Alec from where he was at the door across the room could see that she was now shaking with rage. Her fists were curled into tight balls by her sides and she was desperately trying to remain in control before she exploded. 

"Help?" she inquired casually, "Just like the help you gave us at the complex?" she ended viciously

Now Alec was really confused. Mole and the others at Terminal City had said that Max was alone when she rescued him to who was the "us" she was referring to? And what had Logan done that made Max so pissed off? Alec was determined to get to the bottom of this here and now since the way things were looking between them, Logan and Max may not be in the same room together, or talking for that matter for quite some time. 

Alec made his way through the room, past Logan and over to Max's side. He could feel the heat of her anger coming off her so Alec placed what he hoped would be a cool and reassuring hand on her shoulder. Max felt the hand on her shoulder and was grateful for the distraction. She glanced over and saw Alec looking at her with unguarded and worried eyes. Her heart started to beat faster and she remembered just how close she was to losing him forever and all because of Logan and his selfish actions. Alec could see she was getting angrier and this wasn't his intention. He had meant to calm her down. He braced himself for the brunt of her inevitable attack when he saw her turn back to Logan. 

Logan was staring at the two X-5's with accusing eyes. 

"What's this?" he asked angrily pointing to where Alec's hand still rested gently on Max's shoulder. Things were definitely wrong when Max didn't shrug off Alec's touch. Logan didn't like it one bit. It reminded him of the jealously he had felt at the remark Alec had made to him earlier in his apartment. 

"Unlike you Logan, I shall touch Max whenever I want" 

He was broken out of his thoughts by Max.

"This," she said gesturing to Alec," is Alec alive and no thanks to you" she finished pointing an accusing finger directly at him. 

Logan really didn't want to get into this, as he knew where it was heading. He really didn't want to have to reveal why he had left the woods that night. 

"Max, would you just drop it, I already said I was sorry," he said as he rubbed his forehead

Max was beyond furious now. 'The nerve of Logan' Max thought to herself. If ever he deserved a piece of her mind, this was definitely it. 

"DROP IT?" she screamed, "I will never be able to drop it. You left us there in those woods. You knew White was there and you left us for dead. I got shot because you left. Alec almost died because you left" 

Max was feeling incredibly drained after this little speech. Although it was all news to Alec who stood looking dumbstruck at the information that had just been divulged, part of it was also new to Logan. He knew that Max had been injured but he didn't know that she'd been shot and especially not because of him. Up until then Logan hadn't considered what shape Max and Alec were in upon leaving the complex. He hadn't actually given much thought as to how Max managed to get herself and Alec back to T.C on her motorcycle either. But now hearing what she had been through he felt even guiltier but even more determined to keep the reason he left to himself also. 

"Why did you leave?" a soft and quiet voice asked. 

Two sets of eyes turned to look at Alec who had spoken for the first time since Logan had entered the room. 

"What?" Logan said gruffly

"Why did you leave?" Alec repeated, just as softly and quietly. 

The why of the situation hadn't really concerned Max. He had left, that was all she needed to know. She didn't want to know why just in case it was something that she wouldn't want to here, as it no doubt would be. She gently linked her fingers with Alec's hand that had returned to his side from her shoulder. 

"Alec, don't" she said simply

He turned to look at her and shook his head before turning back to Logan and asking

"I can understand you leaving me there for dead, but why Max? After all, you're supposed to love her"

This question was a double blow to Max's heart. It reminded her of almost losing Alec but it also reminded her of the betrayal and selfishness of Logan. He didn't love her. He only loved the idea of her. His quest for the cure had turned into something that, if they ever found it, she could never have lived up to. Looking at Logan only reminded Max of a lot of wasted time and opportunities. 

Logan still hadn't answered Alec's question and it was clear to everyone that he wasn't going to. He was obviously hiding something and wanted it to remain hidden, no matter what the cost. Even if that cost meant hurting Max. Alec glanced over at Max who was now standing very still with her head down but with her hand still holding his. This gave Alec a great deal of comfort and he hoped it was doing the same for her. As he was watching her he saw the single tear slide down her cheek and fall silently to the floor. Alec knew that Max wouldn't want Logan to see her cry and especially not over him. 

"Logan I think you should leave now" Alec said calmly as he turned to face Logan once again. 

"Oh do you?" Logan asked with the hint of laughter evident in his voice.

Max was saddened to hear that. It was obvious that he thought this was all a joke and that Alec was a joke. Well she'd had enough of Logan and his stupid, selfish, arrogant ways. 

"Logan," Max said gaining both his attention as well as Alec's. They both waited with baited breath for what Max was going to say. "My decision still stands"

Logan looked puzzled, as did Alec. This caused Max to sigh. Did know one listen to her?

"I still never want to see you again," she said softly before turning her back on both the men and going to stand in front of the window. 

Alec was delighted with the decision, but tried not to show it as he immediately jumped into action. 

"You heard the lady," he said, "so leave before I have to make you" 

Logan was about to protest yet again when he saw the look Alec was giving him. He obviously meant business and Logan certainly didn't want to mess with that.  Logan made his way to the door but stopped just before he left. He turned slightly just in case Max had changed her mind. But she was still staring out of the window with her back to him. He sighed. He knew now that Max meant business as well which meant that this was goodbye forever. 

"Goodbye Max" he whispered softly before slipping out of the door and out of her life. 

Max had heard him walk to the door, heard him pause, felt him turn round and felt him stare at her. She was determined not to cry anymore but as she heard him whisper those words she simply lost it. Max sank to the floor and began to cry uncontrollably. It wasn't long until she was wrapped up in two strong arms and being gently rocked back and forth. Alec hated seeing Max cry and this was what had helped her to calm down ever other time so who was he to break the system that obviously works. 

Despite the fact that she was crying, Max had never felt so right in all her life. Right here in Alec's arms was exactly where she needed to be. He was exactly what she needed. She knew that now and she was determined to never let it go. All she had to do now was work up the courage to let him know and hope that he felt the same way. Normally Max would second guess herself for several days about a decision as important as this but too much time had already been wasted. She needed to do this now.

"Alec" she said softly pulling away from him to allow her to look in his eyes

"Yeah?" he answered softly, smoothing her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ears. 

"I need to tell you something" 

He looked at her with a confused look on her face. He smiled slightly and wiped away the remaining tears from her cheeks. 

"It can wait, let's get some rest" Alec said as he started to pull them both up from where they were sitting on the floor. 

"No, it's been waiting for far too long already, I have to tell you now" Max said somewhat forcefully. 

Alec was taken aback. He hadn't meant to make her angry. But he had told her what to do, just as Logan had and they both knew that Max didn't like being told what to do. Max sighed. Now that the time was here she really didn't know where to start. To just blurt out I love you seemed a little abrupt but she really didn't fell like going into the whole long sordid explanation either. 

Alec could see that she was wavering in her decision to tell him or not. But he wasn't sure if it had anything to do with what he had said. He tried to right the situation anyway. 

"Tomorrow?" he offered casually. 

Max contemplated for several seconds then a smile lit up her face. "Yeah, tomorrow" she agreed. 

Max allowed Alec to tuck her into her bed in the infirmary. She hated to admit it but it felt nice for someone to take care of her, especially when that someone was Alec. Perhaps this was exactly what she needed and she hadn't known it. After all Alec was exactly what she needed and she hadn't known that until just recently. Alec finished tucking her into the bed and then bent down to give Max a small kiss on the forehead. She beamed up at him and his breath caught in his throat. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever known, especially when she smiled like that and for only him. He prayed to whoever or whatever was out there that some day, somehow he and Max would be together. 

Just as he was about to leave he felt a small hand on his arm. 

"Alec, I don't want to be alone" Max said softly but averting her eyes from his to try and hide her obvious embarrassment. 

In any other circumstances Alec would have laughed but this matter was far to serious for him to even contemplate such an action. He was so overcome with emotion that he almost couldn't get the words out. 

"Max, do you want me to stay?" 

She nodded. Alec let out the breath he was holding in. He was about to leave to get a chair when a small hand once again stopped him. Max had pulled back the covers on her bed and was patting the spot next to her. 

"Here" was all she said. But it was that one word that sent Alec to heaven. Max wanted him to share her bed. This was a dream come true and he took no time in shedding his unnecessary clothes and settling himself in beside her.

It amazed both Alec and Max just how well the fit together even in something so simple as lying together on a bed. Alec's mind wandered to where else they would fit together perfectly but he didn't want this experience to be short lived and quickly tried to rid his mind of those types of thoughts. They would no doubt get him kicked out onto the floor and banished from her life forever just like Logan was. Logan. Now there was an interesting turn of events. Alec never saw that one coming. All he needed to do now was find out why it had happened. Obviously there was a lot more to the story than Max was letting on. 

"Max?" he whispered softly unsure of whether she was still awake or not as she hadn't spoken.

As if reading his mind, Max answered, "I'll tell you everything tomorrow Alec"

She was getting good at reading him and that scared Alec a little. He hadn't meant to let her in behind his wall but seeing her so upset had caused his priorities to shift. He was no longer concerned for himself but concerned for her and she had seen that. Perhaps tomorrow would be a good chance for him to reveal some things. Alec decided to wait until he heard what Max had to say before he confessed his undying love for her, just to be on the safe side. 

"Goodnight Alec" Max whispered as she drifted off into sleep and snuggled closer into his body.

"Night Max" Alec responded as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. 

Tonight was the first time in a long time that either Max or Alec felt safe and relaxed as they drifted off to sleep. Both couldn't wait for tomorrow and all the secrets that were sure to be revealed to each other. But for now they were content to just be together in each other's arms and away from the world. 

TBC


	12. Tomorrow

**Title:** Secrets, Lies and Betrayals

**Rating:** PG, for now, **DOES** contain a few swear words

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience. 

**Summary:** Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A

A/N: I'm so sorry for the enormously long delay with this chapter, especially since it's the last. But I hope I've made up for it. Enjoy!

Chapter 12: Tomorrow

Max never slept much and just about everyone knew that. But over the past week of inner turmoil and drama surrounding her and her heart, Max had slept more than she probably would have in six months. Tonight, however, was one more night where she simply couldn't sleep. But that simple fact didn't seem to bother Max in the least tonight, as it did on most other nights. Because tonight was different. Tonight Max had never felt so content in all her life. 

It wasn't because of the infirmary bed that she had occupied religiously for a week because frankly the makeshift bed was far from being considered comfortable. It was all down to the person she was sharing the bed with. Someone she never thought she would ever share a bed with or let him touch her for that matter. But also someone who she never thought could be the sole provider of the sense of peace and happiness she was experiencing. Alec was her savior, even if he didn't know it and it had taken her so long to recognize that fact. 

Max had slept briefly after seeing Logan and telling him again that she never wanted to see him. The sense of joy and seeing Alec followed closely by the sense of dread at seeing Logan had taken its toll on her. But once again she was lying wide-awake in the middle of the night giving her the perfect opportunity to think. In that time she had decided a few things and once again most of the decisions revolved around or included Alec. Even though Max was feeling happy and content she knew that all the turmoil and drama hadn't been fully sorted out yet. There was still the small matter of telling Alec…well, everything really. After all, most of it is about him so he does have a right to know.

Fully content with her decision, Max smiled. As if sensing her happiness Alec pulled her closer to his body and nuzzled her ear with his nose. This simple yet affectionate action caused Max to sigh. 

"I love you," she whispered softly to herself.

Unlike Max, Alec did indeed need sleep. However he wasn't going to let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass him by because he was too busy sleeping. When Max had stirred several hours earlier, Alec had also. But he had remained still so as to prolong the experience. He was quite happy to simply lie there with Max in his arms while she thought about whatever she thought about when she was awake at night. 

Alec had felt Max smile which in turn caused him to smile while his unconscious pulled her closer to his body. His smile quickly faded as he hoped that he hadn't just ruined everything. He waited silently for her reaction. Never in a million years would this be what he would have expected. She sighed, fair enough, but then she said those three small words he had been longing to say to her since the day he met her. I love you. 

His mind was racing a hundred miles an hour. Was it meant for him or was it meant for someone in the dream she was having? But she wasn't sleeping so she couldn't be dreaming, which meant that it was meant for him, right? Alec was far beyond confused and he needed to know if those words had been spoken for him, to him. Despite not wanting this experience to finish, Alec simply had to find out what just happened. 

"What did you just say?" he asked softly since his mouth was still close to Max's ear. 

Max's entire body froze and being so close to Alec he felt every muscle tense. This was not a good sign. She would no doubt kick him to the floor very soon. Maybe he could pretend he was talking in his sleep? As Alec was pondering his next move he felt Max move. 'This is it' he thought 'you've fucked it up yet again and now she's leaving'. But instead of leaving, Max turned round in his arms so that she was face to face with Alec. 'Ok this is different' Alec thought to himself as he now had Max still in his arms and was staring into her dark brown eyes that were full of an emotion he couldn't put his finger on. Alec had the thought that whatever was going to be said, it was going to be painful for him either way. 

"You have a right to know and now is as good a time as any I suppose" Max said softly while returning the stare into Alec's eyes

Alec didn't trust himself to speak but his mind was screaming, 'know what?'

Max took his silence as a sign to continue. She let out a shaky breath. This was the point Max knew there was no return from. It was now or never to lay her true feelings for Alec on the line. She didn't want to be weak anymore.

"I'm in love with you," she whispered, still staring into his eyes trying to gauge his reaction. The fact that she wasn't on the floor with him yelling at her was a good sign, or so Max thought. 

Alec's head was once again racing. Never, not even in his wildest dreams did Max ever feel the same way, let alone say it first. But this was indeed beyond all of his wildest dreams. Then Alec heard the word that he dreaded more than anything else in the world at the moment. 

"But…" Max began but stopped when she saw Alec's eye close and his brow crease. 

He didn't want to hear what came next. It already hurt and he didn't even know what it was. He was definitely right with his first assumption. Whatever Max said was going to be painful for him, very painful. First she had filled him with happiness and his heart had swelled like a balloon but now she had the pin poised in her hot little hand and she was going to deflate him. It was more than he could bear. He couldn't look at her and had to close his eyes. He desperately wanted to remember the look on her face when she had said it and nothing else. Everything after that was just a let down in his book. If she was going back to Logan he would go insane. 

Max had seen Alec close his eyes and knew he was disappointed with what she had said. She was glad at that moment that he wasn't looking at her, as he would've seen the tears slide unchecked down her cheeks. This was by far the hardest thing she ever had to do, far harder than telling Logan to get lost for good. That seemed like a walk in the park compared to this. What made it even worse was the fact that not only was she still in the bed they shared, but still had his arms wrapped protectively and dare she think lovingly around her waist. But Max had made a decision and this was what had to be done and Alec needed to hear this, whether he wanted to or not. 

"But," Max continued, " We can never be together"

There she'd said it, finally, now the grieving could begin. First thing she needed was to get out of this bed and out of his arms. But Max was stopped before she even made a move. 

"Why?" Alec asked quietly still not looking at her.

"What?" Max asked dumbly. She hadn't expected he'd want a detailed explanation. But she found that she had always thought it would never get this far not because he didn't want to know but because she couldn't bear to tell him all the sordid details. What did it matter why, hadn't she been tortured enough without having to delve into all her private thoughts about him, them and life?

"Why can we never be together?" Alec asked calmly

"Because…" was all she managed to get out before Max had to sit up and hide her face with her hands in a vain attempt to disguise the fact that she was crying. 

Alec had followed suit and sat up as well and when he saw that Max was crying he immediately reached out to comfort her. But his hands froze in between them. He was unsure now whether it was his place to comfort her. But who was he kidding? this was Max, of course he'd comfort her. Alec closed the distance and pulled Max into yet another hug to stop her tears. 

Max instantly responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder. It took several minutes before her confused brain registered what was happening. Yet again Alec was comforting her while she cried and she had let him without even thinking. Being here with him, having him rub her back and stroke her hair felt so right but it only made Max cry all the more. She knew that they could never be together and yet when they were together like this it seemed so possible. Max was broken out of her thoughts and her sobs by Alec speaking softly in her ear.

"Max, it's tomorrow"

She pulled back but left her arms draped around his shoulders and gave him a quizzical look. This caused Alec to let out a small laugh as he wiped away some of the stray tears still leaking from Max's eyes with his thumbs.

"You said you'd 'tell me everything tomorrow and now is tomorrow"

Max smiled. It was obvious that Alec was worried and anxious about what she had to tell him but he didn't want to push her if she wasn't ready. Max thought the way he had subtly asked if now could be the time to tell him what was bothering her was really sweet. He could be so gentle and caring and with such ease. It was both surprising and comforting to see. 

Max was smiling, that was a good sign. He desperately wanted and needed to get to the bottom of a few things. Like what exactly happened at the complex, both with Max and Logan, why she had kissed him yesterday and, most importantly, why they could never be together. Alec was being remarkably calm for someone who had the love of their life un-expectantly telling them they loved him. Although he was trying and succeeding in portraying a calm demeanor, his insides were quite the opposite.  

Max had been quiet for several minutes now and Alec was quite content to let her. Despite the fact he was in desperate need to know what she was thinking and feeling he didn't want to rush her at all. He had seen where that had gotten Logan and he certainly didn't want to follow down that path. 

"Ok Alec, I'm ready" Max said as she let out a shaky sigh. Laying your entire heart on the line was tough stuff but she was a solider, she could do this. She just didn't know where to start. Max's brow creased in confusing. It was more difficult than she ever imagined deciding where to begin. After all there was just so much to tell.

"How bout you ask what you want to know and I'll answer" Max offered, hoping that Alec would take her up on her offer so she wouldn't have to pick a starting point. 

Alec nodded, "Sure" he said, but it was his turn to ponder about where to begin as there was much that he wanted to know.

"Why did you kiss me yesterday?"

"I was so happy to see you and I needed to be sure that you were real" Max half answered. There were some things that she really didn't want to get into yet, despite wanting to clear the air with Alec. 

Either Alec didn't want to push or believed there was nothing more to say as he took Max's answer as the truth. His mind was occupied with having to ask the far harder questions and the answers that he would receive. 

"What happened with Logan at the complex?" Alec asked after several minutes of silent deliberation. 

Max sighed, she knew this was going to be hard but it had to done for her sake and Alec's. 

"He didn't tell me you were going and when he finally did you'd been overdue by a couple of hours. Everyone else was busy and he offered to help me. I left him in the woods and left to go and find you." Max paused and shuddered at the thought of how she had found Alec. It was something she knew she could never shake. It was an image that would haunt her forever. 

"Are you alright?" Alec asked after she had been quiet for several seconds and tears had started to leak from her eyes. He was worried about her. Whatever Max was remembering, what ever had happened was something that really shocked and scared her. He was angry with himself for not being there to protect her from that. If only he knew that he was the cause of her pain. 

"You were really bad Alec" Max barely whispered, "I thought you were dead and I was so scared. I got you down and got you back to the rally point but Logan wasn't there. I thought he had been captured too but when I got to where his car and my bike was his car was gone. He left, he knew White was there and he left." Max was fully crying by this stage and it broke Alec's heart all over again. Logan was such a dick. But what Alec couldn't have realized was that Max was crying more for the memory of thinking he was dead and seeing him so beat up rather than for Logan.

"Why, why did he leave Alec?" Max begged him to be able to answer the question that had plagued her mind for days now. 

"Because he was scared" 

"Big deal I get scared but I don't run away, suck it up be a man do the job you were meant to do and move on."

"He's not like you Max, like us, he's not a soldier" God Alec hated that he was defending Logan's selfish actions to Max. He had bit his tongue whenever Logan was around or involved for Max's sake and even now that he wasn't he felt he still had to in order to protect Max. It wasn't right but it was what he needed to do. He wanted to protect Max and if defending Logan was how to do it then he would. 

"I know he's not a solider," Max whispered softly before adding, "that's one of the reasons I realized I can never be with him."

Wow, that had certainly taken him by surprise. But Alec was glad to see that Max had actually given this a lot of thought. That meant that she wouldn't be running back to him anytime soon since her final decision was usually just that, final. 

"What are the other reasons?" Alec asked quietly, wanting to know but not wanting to push Max if she wasn't ready, like always. 

Max decided to change the subject at that point. The thought of telling Alec again that she loved him was just a tad to overwhelming for her.

"Do you even know what you were getting from the complex?" she asked casually

"No, it never really occurred to me, Logan just said it was important to you and that was good enough for me"

Max snorted, "Important to me my arse," She sighed before continuing, "It was the cure"

"Oh" was all Alec could say. This changed everything and also explained a lot. No wonder Logan was willingly to part with 20 grand. But why didn't he just ask Max to get it? As if reading his mind Max spoke,

"I didn't know about the mission and I didn't know it was for the cure either." Max said before adding with a sad and dejected look on her face.  "Why didn't you ask me to go with you? 

"God Max there is no one else in the world that I trust my life with but you. But Logan said you were busy and that you told him to get me to do it.

This caused Max to snort again.

"That's another of the reasons he and I can't be together. I realized just how self absorbed he really is."

Alec laughed but was glad Max could finally see Logan for what he really was. It hurt him the Logan used her so blatantly. Max was special and not something that should be taken advantage of just so Logan could boost his reputation. 

The pair was quiet for several minutes content to just lay together. There was one more question that was nagging to be answered in Alec's mind. He knew that if he didn't ask know he never would. 

"Max, you almost killed White at the complex, the only reason you didn't was because I stopped you. Why? What happened to make you want to go against everything you've ever believed in?" 

"I changed, Alec" Max answered vaguely. 

"How?" Alec urged her on desperate to know everything that had happened. 

"I got weak" Max said softly, "I lost you and it made me lose myself as well" she finished with a shrug.

Alec was confused and it showed, "How so?" he asked

Max sighed, admitting this to herself was hard but voicing it out loud and especially to Alec was harder than she ever thought possible, 

" I gave up. I didn't want to live anymore."

"Why Max, why did you give up?"

"God Alec you have no idea, I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead and it was all because of me. I couldn't take it, I needed revenge, I needed to hurt someone, I needed White to pay but I also needed to die. I went back to the complex so White would kill me. I was willingly to risk everyone and everything I care about, T.C, all the transgenics, everything, even myself."

Alec tried to take in all Max was telling him, which wasn't an easy task as there was a lot to take in. He heard what she had been saying and thought he knew what it meant but knew it couldn't be true. He thought what he was hearing was the Max given up because he was dead. Surely that wasn't the case. Sure they were friends or sort of friends and she had said that she loved him but that was only as a friend so Alec didn't think his death would affect her to this extent. He needed this cleared up before he could hear any more. 

"Did you give up because of me?" he asked quietly, afraid he had misunderstood what Max had told him and was jumping to completely the wrong conclusion and about to make the biggest fool of himself. 

Max couldn't speak so instead she nodded yes. Alec was taken aback. Even though he thought that's what she meant it was a completely different shock to hear her actually confirm it. 

"Why?" Alec asked in a tone that clearly conveyed his confusion and shock. 

Max paused and took a deep breath, "I didn't want to live anymore when I thought you were dead because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle being in this world without you." It wasn't exactly a declaration of love like before but it was pretty close. Max wasn't used to saying I love you so she wasn't about to rush into saying it again and again in the chance of scaring Alec off. 

"That's why we can't be together now" Max added as a few more tears began to make their way down her cheeks. 

Alec was floored yet again. He hadn't really taken her seriously when she had said that she had loved him before. But now she was telling him that she had been willingly to give up on her life when she thought he was dead. That spoke volumes to Alec. As both a solider and a man he knew what a huge sacrifice it would be to think that let alone act on it and Max basically did both. Maybe she really did love him but then why was she so unwillingly to give them a chance. Then the answer hit him. Through all this time, all this talking and all the things Max had confessed to him, Alec still hadn't told her that he loved her back. This was the perfect opportunity. Once Max knew that her feelings of love were reciprocated she would have no reason to deny them a chance. Alec was ecstatic. 

 "But Max," he said excitedly, "We can be together."

"No Alec, we can't." Max countered quickly without even really listening to what he had said. She had already gone through this speech in her mind and knew the spiel off by heart. It never occurred to her that Alec would feel the same way. 

"You, well my love for you makes me weak Alec and I end up putting everyone in danger. I even told White I was in love with you. Now I've made you a target and all because of some feeling that I have and can't shake. It isn't fair on you or anyone else. It's something I have to deal with and I will, on my own." Max never she was doing the right thing. Distancing herself from Alec would be hard but it's what needed to be done for the good of the greater cause.  

Alec was confused. Why was Max being so difficult about this? 'She's in love with me yet she won't be with me? That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard' Alec thought to himself. But then a thought struck him. Rachel. He loved her, or at least thought he did at the time, and she died. Maybe it wasn't such an irrational thought after all. Max was merely trying to protect everyone from the consequences of her feelings. She was also trying to protect herself from the pain before it happened. After all, she had already had it happen to her, even if it was a false alarm. 

"I know exactly what you mean," Alec said quietly

"You do?" Max asked obviously surprised.

"I know that you are trying to protect yourself and everyone else from getting hurt and I know that you're scared about being weak but don't you see Max, by us being together we become stronger not weaker. No one can break that, not even White."

Max stared at Alec with a skeptical look. That hadn't really occurred to her and neither did the fact that Alec not only felt the same way but also was willingly to start a relationship. But she still wasn't sure if he did. Maybe all he was doing was trying to convince her that she wasn't weak. After all, Alec hadn't said anything about how he felt about her or even about what he thought about how she felt about him.

Alec saw the skeptical look on Max's face and knew she needed convincing and he knew exactly what to say to do just that. 

"We are meant to be together Max, it's right, we fit, we match, don't fight it. You can't stop what is meant to happen. Maybe you needed to have your heart broken by Logan to see him for who he really is and maybe you needed to think that you'd lost me in order for you to really know how you felt about me and if that is the case than I'm glad all these things happened despite the pain they caused both of us because now it means that we can be together and we can move on stronger than ever." 

Despite all the things Alec was saying to her Max still wasn't hearing the 3 little words she needed and longed to hear the most. It would be those 3 words that would seal the deal for her and them. Until she heard them Max would continue to shake her head. Alec was beginning to lose hope. 

"Max, you can't just shut me out of your life" he said in an exasperated tone whilst throwing his hands up in the air. 

"Why not?" Max asked stubbornly. 

"Because I can't live without you. I feel the same way you do. If you weren't around me everyday then my life just wouldn't be worth living. You make me a better person and you make me want to be a better man. Max, I love you" 

Her heart leapt. He had said it. He had told her he loved her along with so many other things that she needed to hear in order to allay her fears. 

"Really?" Max asked letting the smile spread across her face and light up all of her features, while still being a tad unsure if she had heard correctly. After a life full of pain, suffering and hate it was hard to come to terms with getting the one thing that truly made you happy. Max was having a little trouble believing it was actually true.

Alec laughed. He needed to say a few things of his own and now was most definitely the time. 

"Yes Max really. I've loved you since the moment I first laid eyes on you. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and you take my breath away every time I look at you. It's not just because of what manticore put into your mix, you are your own person and Manticore could never stop the beautiful person that you are from emerging. I love you so much it hurts. You have no idea how hard it has been to not touch you, hold you, kiss you and most of all tell you I love you for all this time."

Max had never been happier in all her life. Finally something had gone right for her in her crazy life. All the pain over the past week had been washed away and forgotten with 3 simple words from Alec. He was whom she truly loved and whom she needed to be with. It had just taken her far too long and far too many wrong paths to find him. But all that didn't matter now because she had found him and he had been waiting for her all along. Now they could be together. 

The smile wouldn't leave Max's face even if she wanted it to, which she didn't' of course. She wrapped her arms around Alec's neck and hugged him tightly to her body. They stayed that way for several minutes before Alec pulled back and stared at Max. 

"God you're beautiful," he whispered while slowly stroking the side of her face with his thumb, so as to try and memorize every inch of her skin. The smile on Max's face grew wider till her cheeks felt as if they would burst. Her heart felt as if it would burst also. She had never been in love like this before and knew that this was without a doubt the real thing. 

"I love you Alec" she whispered and watched as his face broke out into a grin whilst several tears leaked from his eyes. Alec closed the gap between them and softly planted his lips against Max's. The kiss was electric and neither one of them could describe the pure joy that they felt at the simple contact. After the kiss broke, Alec began running his hands along Max's neck and down her arms, reveling in the feel of her soft skin. 

"I love you too Max" he said before capturing her lips once again. 

Max and Alec were oblivious to the rest of the world. They were content to spend the rest of the night and the rest of their lives exploring each other and the possibilities a relationship would present them with. Both of them knew that they were in love with the other body, mind and soul. They were made for each other and their love would last through whatever Seattle, White and the familiars, the entire world would throw at them. They had each other and that was all that mattered. 

 The End.

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this story and hoped everyone enjoyed reading it. Let me know, Cheers.


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